Files
by Bae Arcell
Summary: The Alloys are attacking Central Planet. Samus is in the dead center, and all she has with her is her six friends, slowly growing into her family. And what will happen, when its discovered just what the Alloys' weapon really is? And someone in the background is recording knowledge of the planet, filing it away as important. Someone's waking up from their slumber...
1. File 01: Central Planet

**FILE 01 - "Central Planet"  
**_A report, Master._  
_The file that you wish to read is registered as Classified. Do you to still wish to read it? ... I see. Very well, then, Master. Analysis indicates that this file dictates events that occurred on Central Planet after the attack and eventual defeat of the species registered as the "Fighting Wireframes"._  
_These beings were defeated by the Super Smash Brothers... Just as the Fighting Polygons before them. Further information on the different divisions of Central Planet is recommended, but not necessary. Still, I have provided footnotes describing the different divisions at the end of the File._

* * *

Samus glared at her laptop screen. She had recently received an email from none other than Master Hand himself.

With a frown she turned to look at the calendar, confirming that the date was just the one he had just described in his digital letter. With a sigh she placed her laptop on the table before her and got up from her couch, irritated that, once again, he had to ruin her plans.

He had stated in his letter that he wished to summon the Original Twelve. Each of them were to, hopefully, bring someone new with them to the Summoning for possible Smash Brother status, and none of them had to be the ones from the Wireframe Attack, as he hoped to "up their ranks", as he had stated.

She knew _no one_ in her Division that would even be remotely interested.

To make matters worse, the letter had added like an after thought that, "Oh yeah, Link's been replaced." What did he mean, "replaced"? Yes, she knew that every 100 years or so, the Hylians change heroes, but you don't just go about changing who someone is. You don't just "replace" someone that Samus had considered a friend, just for the hell of it.

She pulled back the curtains on her window, gazing out at the Wii Division outside her door. Most of the inhabitants of her street were Animals, a sub-breed of Nintendo-ites that pretty much went by their day carrying shovels, fishing rods, bug nets and axes for no reason. They also liked to finish their sentences with weird sayings... amirite? Samus found it infuriating and she wished they hadn't decided to move onto her street to do it.

A glance to her table made her eye catch sight of the picture she had placed on it not that long ago. Out of all the Smash Brothers, she had grown close to four throughout their two previous battles.

Link, Ness, Fox, and Captain Falcon.

For Link, Samus had been his first friend outside of Zelda and Saria. She understood the Sign Language that he used to speak his thoughts, and she took the time to read them and learn more signs from him. He was a good, kind hearted man, and he liked to joke around. He was good with Ness, too, always making sure that he knew he appreciated Ness' help in the battles. She recalled one time after the battle was over, Link had playfully ruffled Ness' hair.

She was going to miss Link, if what Master Hand had said was true and he was replaced. That could only mean one thing: His job as the Hero was done, and a new one stood up to take his place. Out of all of them, he had suffered quite a bit throughout the Polygon and Wireframe battles. With Navi's help, he had sealed away the Polygons, but their movement had created a time rift, flinging his younger self into the second battle with them, until Zelda had sealed away the Wireframes and sent Young Link back.

Rumor on the street had it that a boy in green was recently discovered out by the harbour by the Advance Division's slums, too. Samus remembered frowning upon hearing it.

Ness was from the SNES Division... the lowest of the low, as some arrogant people would put it. True, Ness was from the most poverty-stricken area, living with the poorest people in the Division, but it all went down to one thing in her heart. He was a good kid. He was a young boy, orphaned by the Polygons, and he was a good kid, with an amazing gift. Those people he lived with now - they didn't have to take him in, either. But they did.

Fox and Captain Falcon bonded with Samus over mutual understandings. All three of them were bounty hunters, all three of them worked under hard conditions. All three of them knew and understand what it felt like to lose someobody that you loved. All three of them just simply... understood. She wouldn't mind seeing them again, that was for sure.

Thinking of them reminded her of an old friend from her time in the lower parts of the Central Planet. A friend that also understood, but he had been young then.

With a sigh, Samus decided it was time to get ready. Soon, she would be expected at Master Hand's base and she was going to be expected in uniform, no doubt. With a frown, she considered her Power Suit, but decided that it wasn't the right moment for it, yet. It was just a meeting, after all.

So, she stepped up the stairs and headed into her room, pulled open her closet door and looked up at the Zero Suit staring back at her. With a smile, she decided that, yes, this is what she was going to wear to the meeting. And then, it was just going to be a quick phone call to an old friend.

Maybe she did know who to call, after all.

* * *

It didn't take long to get to the Base, as it was just around the corner from Samus' House. The Wii Division was large, yes, but it was tight knit, and everything was within either walking distance, or a five minute subway ride. Samus quite enjoyed how quick it took just to get anywhere. When she got there, she had to blink for a moment.

Standing in the center of the room was the new Link, tall and handsome like the last, but seeming more armored, stern and older. His blonde hair was more dirty, and his eyes were more like a wolf's. Samus was sure that his shadow had moved. On its own.

The one that this Link brought with him was a younger Link, but clearly not the same one as he was. He seemed more outwardly peaceful and friendly, more... cartoony. Samus found one thing different about him that separated him from the other Links she had known. It was his eyes. They were a beautiful shade of grass green, much like his tunic.

Luigi was also there, and he had brought with him a robotic friend. When Samus asked, he said his name was R.O.B., and he had recently been rescued from the junkyard in SNES. Samus just went with it, confused, but shrugging.

Mario was sitting next to them, chatting with an old friend that he had brought - a blue, speedy hedgehog named Sonic.

She quickly reunited with Captain Falcon and Fox, giving a rare smile upon seeing them. They all greeted each other before getting serious.

"So, that's it? New Link, just like that?" Fox asked, gesturing to Link trying to keep the younger one at bay, who appeared to want to climb on the furniture. "And that new one... He arrived at the Advance Harbour."

"So that's what that news report was about?" Captain Falcon returned. Living in the 64 Division meant less electricity, and his cable rarely worked, but he frequently fixed it and upgraded it to the times anyway. "I was wondering what that was about."

"Falco thinks that its because of the sealing away of the Wireframes," Fox theorized. "Wolf just thinks its a 'load of bull'."

"Wolf?" Samus blurted out. "You mean Wolf O'Donnell, who frequently butts heads with you? Why were you talking to him about it?"

"Yeah," Captain Falcon added, clearly confused by the words. "I thought you two were... you know. Rivals. Enemies."

"We are, but he was the only one I had been able to contact on short notice," Fox answered, gesturing to a corner.

Samus and Captain Falcon both turned to see Wolf sitting idly on a chair, tapping his claws against the nearby end table. He seemed annoyed, but uninterested in what was going on. Noticeably, the nearby Kirby was inching away from him, closer to Meta Knight.

"Huh," Captain Falcon voiced. "Interesting that he decided to come."

"I may or may not have tased him and brought him anyway since he may or may not have refused."

Captain Falcon snorted.

The door to the building opened and everyone present turned instantly. Samus immediately smiled at the sight of Ness stepping through the doors, leading a similar small boy with blonde hair by the hand. Ness appeared thinner and less bulky than he had by the end of the Wireframe battle, and he was in need of a good bath, but he was still alive and better yet, he was smiling. He was happy.

The boy that he brought with him was in similar condition, but he wasn't smiling. In fact, he looked scared, worried, and sad all at the same time, with his blue eyes appearing like they were going to burst tears any second. He wore a similarly striped shirt to Ness, orange and yellow, and his shoes were a little untied.

Little Link's face lit up like a Christmas tree at the sight of two boys his age. He immediately hopped away from Link, who put on an agitated face and face palmed after failing to grab him.

Little Link pranced up to the boys with a large smile, holding out his hand instantly. Ness smiled and quickly shook it.

"Ness," he introduced, before gesturing to the boy next to him. "This is Lucas!"

Little Link then did something that shocked everyone in the room. He saluted, gave a big, toothy grin, and let out a vocal.

"Link!"

Ness blinked. "... You're Link... and you can talk? But the other two couldn't! They had to sign!"

Little Link shrugged. "My eyes are different, too."

Lucas shivered and tried to melt into Ness' back out of fear. Ness smiled back at him before turning it to Little Link.

"They are," he commented finally. It was clear he hadn't noticed at first.

Link's shadow moved again and he stepped up to Little Link, making a few quick hand gestures at him. Little Link frowned at the Signs and sadly walked away, with an award-winning pout on his face. Link crossed his arms and quickly nodded at Ness and Lucas in a greeting manner, before heading back to their seats.

"H-H-He's scary," Lucas muttered into Ness' shirt.

Ness only frowned. "He's different that the other one. I miss him already."

"You and everybody else," said Captain Falcon, as he, Samus and Fox approached. He knelt down to wipe away some dirt of Ness' face. "... You need a good clean, kid."

"How have you been doing, Ness?" Samus asked as she two knelt down to eye level.

"I've been alright," Ness replied happily. "Pretty much the same as it always is."

"You lost some weight," Fox commented lightly. Samus noticed he had a frown on his face and he had crossed his arms.

Samus immediately nodded in agreement and tugged lightly at his shirt. "Look at this! It used to fit you so nicely."

Ness chuckled embarrassingly. "Yeah, well... Three meals a day are a novelty, you know? Well, three well-rounded meals anyway..."

Lucas was practically pressed against his back at this point, whimpering out of fear. "N-N... Ness... I..."

"Ah!" Ness suddenly exclaimed. "Right! Samus, Fox, Captain Falcon, this is my friend Lucas. He lives in the Advance District! He's like me!"

"When you say 'like me'... Do you mean..." Captain Falcon frowned a bit in thought. "... He's a psychic, too?"

Ness put his hands to his hips and looked behind him slightly, a wide grin on his face. Lucas shivered in place, pressed up against Ness' back with his hands on Ness' shoulders in fear. Slowly, however, he began to nod in confirmation.

Captain Falcon whistled. "That's pretty incredible."

"Speaking of which, who did you bring, Captain Falcon?" Fox asked suddenly.

"Me? Oh, well... There's this guy. I met him on one of my jobs about a year ago, helped him out," Captain Falcon began slowly. "I called him in and he's already here."

"Where is he?" Ness asked out of curiousity.

Captain Falcon simply pointed at a nearby cardboard box with holes for handles.

"... A box?" Ness questioned.

"... Not 'a box', it's what's in the box. His name is Snake," Captain Falcon explained with a smile. He then turned to Samus. "How about you? Who'd you bring in?"

Samus smiled softly at them all, before peering up at the ceiling. "He's not here, yet. He's going to be, though."

Fox frowned at the words. "Well, he better come in, soon. Meeting's going to start soon."

"He has a long trip ahead of him. I'm sure Master Hand will understand," Samus said with a smile.

In the meantime, she'd appreciate it if they all caught up. It had been so long. For now, talk had dwindled and Samus decided to take a look around the new recruits.

Lucas whimpered and huddled his face into the back of Ness' shoulder. Snake the Box inched forward just a little bit. Wolf had fallen asleep and was drooling. Yoshi and Kirby were chatting with King Dedede of the Advance Division, and his friend Meta Knight. Pikachu and Jigglypuff were with a young boy with three Pokeballs and a Lucario. Donkey Kong had brought Diddy Kong.

What surprised Samus the most was the fact that there was one extra person in the room. Wario was in the room also, clearly having followed Mario and Luigi here. Dr. Mario then entered the room, being followed by a little spaceman with little plant things following him.

And then, Samus' back up.

The door carefully opened, and in stepped a young boy, wings sprouting from his back. Mario's face lit up at the sight of him, Donkey Kong rammed his chest in greeting. Captain Falcon wiped his visor in disbelief.

"Pit?!"

Pit smiled and bowed respectfully. "I have to come to aid the Brothers, as Samus had wished!"

Mario rushed up, being followed by Sonic. "Pit, it is a pleasure to see you again!" The two shook hands furiously. "It has been so long! Where have you been?"

"Not still in the SNES Division are you?" Captain Falcon asked. "That place has gone to the dumps, let me to tell you."

Ness glared slightly at those words, but nodded in agreement all the same. Lucas was shivering again.

Pit smiled and shook his head. "No, Lady Palutena and I moved to Duel Screen. That's where we've been."

They all nodded in realization.

"Ah, okay..." Captain Falcon even voiced.

A booming voice then sounded, causing Lucas to yelp and tighten his hold on Ness.

"We are now all here!" Master Hand appeared out of nowhere, and standing next to him was a young man that Samus didn't recognize. "Smash Brothers... we have all brought someone to join our side, to become Brothers much like us. A new threat is coming closer to our world, threatening it's safety much like the Polygons and the Wireframes before them. This new threat... is called the Fighting Alloys."

"Fighting Alloys?" voiced King Dedede.

"Yes, the Fighting Alloys. I am putting you all into teams, some big and some small. I know of all of the ones that you have brought, and I accept them all as Smash Brothers," he quickly stated. Samus realized he just wanted to get to the important parts. "As such, I position you all accordingly."

All Samus had done was blink. All she did was blink, and suddenly she was standing in the center of the room with Captain Falcon, Fox, Ness and Link. Joined with them was Lucas and Little Link. Pit was not with them. Glancing quickly around, she saw Pit was with Mario's team. At least he was still with someone that he knew.

"The teams have been selected," Master Hand announced. "Now, go forth! Go forth, and save Central Planet!"

... And then the world became dark.

* * *

_Master, a report._

_It would appear that you have been teleported to a different location. I have marked the following locations on your map so as you do not get lost._

_... I have marked your current location, that is which, Samus' home in the Wii Division.  
_

_I have also marked the location of Master Hand's base of operations.  
_

_Also marked is the entrance to the first location that you will be searching for the Fighting Alloys.  
_

_I bid you good luck and farewell, Master._

* * *

Samus opened her eyes to find herself in her living room. She was joined by her team, consisting of her best friends, Captain Falcon, Fox and Ness, and Link, the replacement for the old Link which she had also considered a friend. Also joining them were two newcomers, Lucas and Little Link.

She was starting to wish that she had bothered to vacuum her carpet this morning, but decided there would be no point. She looked around and smiled at her team, deciding to be the first to say something.

"So... Where do we begin? Master Hand didn't give us much to offer in terms of information and where they'd be."

"If the Fighting Alloys are anything like the Fighting Polygons and the Fighting Wireframes, then they'll be dangerous," Fox offered as advice, closing his eyes and frowning. He even crossed his arms. "I think the best bet we have is simply listening to the news, see what's currently going on."

"The first team attacked SNES first," Ness piped up. Lucas was still clinging to him. "But the Wireframes, they attacked Advance first."

"... I... I 'member... that..." Lucas muttered into Ness' sleeve.

Captain Falcon frowned. "There were a lot of casualties, Ness' parents included. We have to be careful, think ahead... I don't want that happening again."

Fox nodded. "Right."

Link quickly spouted into a series of signs, putting in his two cents. Little Link glanced up and looked at them, reading expertedly.

"Right, right!" he suddenly exclaimed, before turning to the others. "... Big Brother, he says that we should start in the lower places. The other two, they attacked the lower places first, right?"

Samus was a little confused at the 'Big Brother' part, but quickly filed it aside as something unimportant. She nodded at Little Link's words, and gestured to the door.

"Polygons attacked SNES. Wireframes attacked Advance. I bet the Alloys are going to attack 64," she offered.

Captain Falcon immediately frowned. "... They might attack my place first? Not if I have a say."

Samus gestured again. "Then let's go. To the 64 Division."

* * *

**FILE 01.5 - "The Divisions"  
**_As I had promised you, Master. The following information describes and translates the different Divisions of Central Planet as required. It is my best hope that the following information aids you in your further reading pleasure._

"District SNES": The slums of Central Planet. The SNES Division suffers from low electricity capabilities and no running water. The area is covered in dirt and the buildings are mostly made from scrap found by the inhabitants. Reports state that food and money is scarce, and most people from the other Divisions look at it with scorn. Smashers Ness, Game & Watch and the Ice Climbers live here, however, Ness is the one that is important to remember for these reports, as he is central.

"District 64": One level higher than SNES. Buildings actually look well constructed and are in better repair, and the area has working electricity and water, but hot water is only available in the morning. Phone lines work when they wish to. Captain Falcon is the one that resides here.

"District Gameboy": Same level as District 64, but smaller. It is closer to the water harbour.

"District Advance": District Advance is a mix of both District 64 and SNES. While it is mostly a well developed area with working water and electricity, there is a lower, more poverty stricken area closer to the harbour that is more like the SNES division. Future Smash Brother Lucas resides here.

"District Cube": A generally commonwealth area with well build buildings, with the middleclass people residing here. Most of the Smash Brothers reside here, and it is well known for is large population of the species "Pokemon". Fox and Falco reside here.

"District Wii": District Wii houses the most rich of Central Planet's population, and is home to many celebrities sucha as Mario and Luigi, and Samus from the main central characters in the reports. The area is also home to Master Hand and his base of operations, and is also home to many of the Central Planet's operations, such as the electrical factory and the water treatment center.

"District Duel Screen": A subdivision of the Wii area, if you will. It is a suburban area that is mostly a residential block, but there are some very good merchants that visit quite frequently in the area. Marth and Roy reside here.

_... And there you have it, Master. I hope my report has helped you in your future reading pleasure._


	2. File 02: 64 Division

**FILE 02 - "64** **Division"  
**_A report, Master.  
I have been able to analyze and study these "Alloys" that you will be fighting and dodging from. Typically, they attack in numbers and are never found alone. This behaviour ensures that they will be hard to defeat and overthrow, as they try to outnumber their prey or enemy, in an attempt to defeat it.  
Using bombs is recommended, as well as taking in large swipes of your sword. Using long range weapons is not recommended and should not be done.  
... It just angers them, thus, making them more dangerous.  
_

* * *

Samus remembered why she disliked Division 64.

Perhaps it was the run down buildings, with the smashed glass windows, or the telephone and power lines streaming from building to building overhead the walkways, or perhaps it was the rat that had just scurried across the road before it got run over by a truck.

Perhaps it was the fact that the truck had a bodybag in the back. Samus caught the sound of Lucas whimpering, trying his best to keep close to Ness as they moved across the area.

"Stay close to me," stated Captain Falcon as he led the way. "I think I know where they'll begin."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Fox suddenly tested, stepping away from a man sitting on the sidewalk holding a cup out.

Samus took a moment to regard the man sitting there looking hopeful. She didn't recognize him, but he looked worn and down on his luck. He was skinny, but she felt that the two children following her group around attached by the hips were probably more hungry than he was. 64 was richer than SNES after all.

She watched as Link completely ignored him, and Little Link considered him for a moment, before smiling up at Samus and gesturing for her to follow them.

He had the right idea.

"Come on, this way," Captain Falcon continued, leading them deep inside a tight street. "There's a central plaza so to speak just at the end of this road. Most people hang out there when they have nothing better to do. From there, we can do nothing really but wait for the strike."

The road wasn't too long, but it clearly certainly felt like it to the children. Lucas was getting tired of all the walking and Samus could tell. His grip on Ness' hand was weaker than it had been when they had begun wandering the streets of 64. Ness was staying strong, as was Little Link, who seemed unfazed, but Ness had a look of stubborness on, and Samus recognized it.

It was the kind of face he would put on when someone asked him if his injury hurt, or if he was hungry. It was the kind of face he put on when he didn't want to accept any charity from anybody because he felt inferior to everyone else. She remembered the battles of the Polygons, when he had lost his parents. He had the face on pretty much the entire time, and he didn't even stop to rest or eat until he had beaten the Polygon that had committed their murder. After he had done his task, he had outright fainted from the exhaustion and the hunger.

Samus made sure to tell him she hadn't appreciated the little heartattack he had given her and the others.

Stepping out of Memory Lane, Samus eyed her team carefully, realizing that someone was missing. She stopped when she realized that Little Link was the one that was gone. None of the others had noticed, it seemed, so she quickly reeled to look behind her, relieved when she saw the little Hylian eying something in the alleyway.

"Link!" she called out, gathering his attention. She turned to notice she had gained the attention of the older one as well, and ran a hand through her hair. "We really need to come up with nicknames for you two."

Little Link rushed over, smiling at her. "Sorry about that, I just thought I recognized some of it."

Link made a few gestures, and Samus recognized them, realizing what he was saying.

[You need to stay with the group, you could get lost.]

"Link's right," Samus claimed, crossing her arms and giving him a glare. "Leaving us right now, especially in an area none of us except for Captain Falcon really know, is not a good idea."

"I know. I'm sorry. I promise to not lose you guys," Little Link said with a smile. "I won't do it again."

[You better not. We both know Zelda would have my head.]

"Both yours, _and _mine, and trust me, you _don't_ want to see Tetra on a bad day."

At his words, Samus gave a light smirk. He really was a lot like the Young Link that she had used to know, from the Wireframe battles. He was the same a little, the big change from the other Links being that he could talk and his eyes were green. He was certainly a puzzle, that was for sure.

"Samus!"

She immediately turned to see Ness at the end of the street, waving at her. For once, he didn't have Lucas with him. She turned to face the others. "Come on, let's go see what's up."

* * *

"... Is it bad I can see tell where Ness' house was?" Fox asked, sounding disappointed.

"... Hey, I can, too, so... I'm not sure," Captain Falcon admitted.

Samus gave a sharp sigh. "... It's kind of a sad sight, actually."

From where they were, a small outlook from the central plaza, the group had an unfortunately perfect view of the SNES Division, war scars and all. The broken down, scrapped buildings were a sight to behold, with the wandering people, clearly helpless and with no end destination in mind, were seeable from where they were. Captain Falcon could even see a few just idly sitting by their days on the streets, some on discarded cardboard, others on the harsh stone sidewalk.

But what the Brothers felt was very upsetting was the part of the Division that the Polygons had attacked around three years ago. Completely destroyed buildings lay on the edge of the Division, crumbled down and collapsed inwardly, and there was just a pile of rubble where a once small, proud house had once stood on a hill.

Ness' house.

Samus looked down to see Ness staring at the area with a look of disdain. It was an odd look that he had on, or so she considered. He was quick to take offense to rude and thoughtless remarks on his home Division, especially when the people that lived there were called rats. She knew why. He was one of those "rats". He was one of those people condemned to starving their days away while people in the higher Divisions lived in fancy houses with working water and electricity.

But the look he was giving the Division now startled her. He was pretty much glaring at his home, and his look said it all. He didn't like it there. He didn't like the filthy, rat infested streets, with the stray dogs fighting him for his food, and the beggars asking him to give them what little he had. He didn't like going to bed hungry, he didn't like not being able to eat three decent meals a day, he didn't like having no power to run his things, no water to wash his face.

He didn't like it.

She didn't either. He was a good kid, he was a kid that helped them against the Polygons after they had claimed the lives of his sister and parents... _and he didn't have to_. He had been starving, sick and filthy, had just lost his family, and he rushed up to Mario, exclaiming that he wanted to help, even though he looked ready to fall over from his sickness and his hunger. He deserved much better than what he had.

A sniffle suddenly came from Lucas. Everyone turned to look at him as he looked down at the destruction, and Ness suddenly gained a look of recognition.

"Does it... remind you of the Wireframe Attack?" he asked, somewhat carefully.

Lucas sniffled. His eyes turned red. Then, it a heartbreaking tone, he tearfully said two shaky words.

"... M-mother... C-C-Claus..."

... and then Lucas cried. He keeled over, falling to his knees as he sobbed, his body shaking terribly. Both Links jumped at the scene, before they simultaneously shakily removed their hats and placed them on their chests. Little Link even bowed his head. Captain Falcon turned to the destruction and saluted it sadly, as Fox looked up at the sky, in deep thought.

Ness and Samus both knelt down at Lucas' sides, Samus rubbing his back and Ness grabbing his hand.

"... It's okay, Lucas. We're here for you, we're not leaving," Ness said, in an attempt to calm him down. "I promise."

Eventually Lucas' sobs turned into whimpers, with the occasional sniffle.

"We..." Fox started, turning back toward the 64 Division. Everyone but Lucas turned to look at him. "We... should probably find shelter. I smell moisture in the air..."

Captain Falcon smirked. "Heh. Good luck with that. My place is on the other side of the Division, and we don't have those fancy "hotels" and "inns" that you guys have."

Samus looked up at him, still rubbing Lucas' shaking back. "How about covered areas?"

"There's an alley way close by that we can duck under," Captain Falcon informed, even pointing in the direction of it. "We can take shelter there and kick out anybody there."

"Good enough for me," was Samus' reply, and she carelly picked up Lucas and cradled him in her arms. He quickly latched his arms around her neck, nestling his face into her shoulder. She and Ness traded a smile before they moved on, Link dragging along Little Link.

* * *

They had reached the alley way just in time, and the all huddled against the walls as the rain pounded against the ground nearby. Samus peered over their alley's roof, eying the dark grey sky somewhat suspiciously.

"Still no sign of the Alloys," she sighed.

"I'll take that as a good thing," Captain Falcon decided, trying to ignite a garbage can for some heat. "Gives us more time to just relax."

They all noticed Ness wince. "How about eat...?" he asked somewhat weakly.

Fox nodded in agreement, making some quick changes to his ray gun. "That's a good idea. I'm feeling a little peckish myself, and I don't think we want Ness turning into flesh and bones."

"That wouldn't do any of us good," Samus decided, giving the boy in question a worried stare.

His words caused Captain Falcon to chuckle. "Yeah, agreed." It was then he got a tap from Link, causing him to turn around. "What's up?"

Link immediately held up a bottle with a liquid inside it. He held it out toward Captain Falcon with a nod.

"What's this?" asked the racer, taking the bottle carefully. "Looks important, sure you want to offer it?"

Link nodded again, before quickly signing, [It's oil.]. Then, in case the Captain didn't understand, he held out a lantern that usually hung on his side, pointing at it.

Captain Falcon gave him a smirk. "I see. I understood the first time, but I liked the clarification. Thanks, I'm sure this will help." He turned his attention back to the garbage can and poured just a smidgen of Link's lantern oil into it. "Alright, everyone, step back! We're about to have a fire!"

Then, he and Link lit a match, tossed it in, and ducked, as did everyone else.

The garbage can innards engulfed into flames, until finally settling on a nice sized campfire coming from garbage.

"Much better!" chimed Little Link, who was using a thin blanket for warmth. "My sail can only do so much."

"Sail?" Samus voiced. "I guess that explains why it's so thin."

"Mhm! I bought it for a friend," Little Link explained. "But I hang onto it."

Ness' stomach rumbled then and he groaned somewhat, leaning into the wall behind him. His action didn't go unnoticed, and Fox immediately approached, nudging him somewhat.

"Hey, don't worry. I'll head out and see if there are any markets open," Fox said. He turned back to the group and gestured to the opening of the alley way. "Anyone else want to brave that storm with me?"

"I think I'll stay behind," Samus decided, moving over to sit beside Ness. "Someone needs to stay with Ness."

Lucas immediately latched himself on Samus without a word.

Captain Falcon, meanwhile, stood up immediately. "I know the area and the people, so I'll join you."

Link quickly joined them, pushing back Little Link as soon as he stood up to tag along.

"But-!" Little Link protested.

Link shook his head and pointed at the ground, making his point.

"Link's right, kid," Captain Falcon stated. "Stay with Samus."

[Be good,] Link signed, before the three men stepped out of the safety of the alley way, in search of food.

Little Link pouted, crossing his arms as he stood in the center of the alley way. He stayed there for a good five minutes as Samus and the psychics watched him, until he suddenly shivered and rushed back to his forgotten sail, wrapping it around him. He then went on to join them in their huddle in front of the garbage can fire.

"It's not fair," he immediately said. "It's not fair that he gets to go."

"You're just a kid... Like me and Lucas," Ness replied. Samus noted that his voice sounded hoarse. "With the Alloys bound to show up soon, it could be dangerous out there. Plus it's raining. I don't know about you, but if I get soaked in that, I'm getting sick."

It was a harsh side effect and a common trait of people living in SNES. Master Hand had even said that it happened to those in 64, Gameboy, and the Advance slums, too. The Smash Brothers had always known of Ness' frail health. He had been sick when he had joined and he had fallen ill during the Wireframe battle, too. Samus recalled Captain Falcon telling her once that he used to be a lot like Ness when he had been younger, until eventually, his weak immune system got stronger over time.

Samus hoped that would be the case with Ness. It made her wonder if Lucas had the same problem, but right now he was just huddled into her shivering from the cold. She looked up to eye Little Link, who was also shivering despite the fact he was the only one with a blanket (even though it was really a sail) wrapped around his shoulders.

"Great," Ness suddenly spoke, with a slight, trembling laugh. "I'm cold, hungry, and we're ducking in some alley way in the rain. Reminds me a lot of when my house tumbled."

Lucas whimpered. "... Y... Yeah."

Samus immediately turned to Ness, worried about the question she was about to ask. "... Ness. Just out of curiousity... But... Did you eat this morning...? You're not usually... I mean, I know... But..."

"... I'm not usually this hungry unless I haven't eaten yet. I know," Ness finished the awkward sentences with ease. Back in the other battles, before he had been chided by Dr. Mario, Ness used to refuse to eat with everyone else, refused the food that was given to him unless it was from Samus, Fox, Link or Captain Falcon. He felt he shouldn't accept it all the time, because then he felt he'd be taking advantage of them. It got to the point that Dr. Mario finally lost all self control, and berated him, accusing him of not putting his health first, and thinking only of his pride.

"So, have you?" Samus asked, her voice less shakey and her question more planned.

Ness hesitated. That was the only answer she needed. "I... No."

"Holly and Tom, they're feeding you, right?"

"That's not it," Ness claimed, shaking his head. "It's just... I felt like I was a burden to them, another mouth to feed, and that feeling... It was hard, you know? It was like the Wireframes all over again, where I felt like just another mouth for Peach to feed, and so I..."

He trailed off. Samus saw Little Link wince under his sail blanket.

"... You _what_, Ness?" Samus asked, her tone getting a little harsh.

Ness, she knew that he knew he was in trouble. But he was a good kid, and she knew that he was about to say was going to be the truth. "... I ran away."

* * *

Link looked up, using his hand to block out the rain from falling into his eyes. He could tell it wasn't going to let up anytime soon.

"Man, this rain!" Fox exclaimed. "No markets open, no shops!"

"No, nothing." Captain Falcon huffed in annoyance.

"We have to at least bring back something to eat, even if its just the kids eating," Fox decided, crossing his arms. "Poor Ness, I mean, he's from SNES. Food is scarce down there."

Link turned to consider the two of them for a moment, and the two paused as they realized they were being stared at. Suddenly, Link's lips twisted into an evil, dark smirk as he removed from... from somewhere, a long fishing rod.

Then, he signed, [Anywhere that I can do some fishing? I can catch us some fish.]

Fox blinked, before smiling and looking up at Captain Falcon. "Well? I like fish."

"You know what?" Captain Falcon asked, crossing his arms with a smile of his own. "... I do, too."

* * *

"... You... You _what_?!" Samus exclaimed. She outright exploded with anger, to the point that Lucas trembled away and rushed to Little Link instead to cling onto. Ness winced at the volume that she was using. "You... You ran away?! Ness, you could have... Ness, the streets are...! NESS!"

"I know, I know! It was stupid!" Ness immediately attempted to say, trying to calm her down. "I know!"

"Then why did you do it?! Why haven't you gone back yet?!" Samus barked.

Ness' look turned sad and he looked down at the ground. "... Because I was scared. I was scared to how they would react... If they would even take me back. It's like I said. I'd be another mouth to feed. They have kids, Samus. Holly's pregnant again. They won't be able to afford it..."

So that had been his reasoning. He wasn't lying when he said that Holly and Tom had children of their own. By SNES standards, they had five too many with six children. Samus had even been surprised when Ness announced he had been adopted by them. Now they were aiming for seven children of their own, but with Holly's history of multiples, it could easily go higher.

Ness must have decided that he was going to at least drop the number of mouths that Tom had to feed, and seeing that he wasn't their biological child, he could run away without much worry that they would react too harshly. But Samus knew Holly, and the poor woman had a tendency to worry about someone who wasn't even related to her. A lot.

"... I still can't believe you did it," Samus said in an annoyed tone. Her angry look softened at the sound of his hungry stomach rumbling. "... How long has it been?"

"... What?" Ness asked, confused. "... I... I left about two-three months ago?"

"No," Samus said with a shaking head. "When did you last eat something?"

It was mainly out of worry for him. Hearing that he'd been out on the streets again, when the first time they'd met, he had tried to steal Mario's lunch out of desperation. Back then, they hadn't reached SNES in time. He'd been out on the streets for a week by then, and had barely eaten a thing the entire time.

Ness' silence worried her. "... Yesterday. Night, was it, Lucas?"

Samus turned to Lucas in surprise. The blonde shyly looked away into Little Link's green sleeves. "... Y-Yeah..."

"See, Samus..." When Ness spoke, Samus turned to look back at him. "... I met Lucas after I left. I learned a lot about him over that time, and we just started supporting each other, you know?"

"So, if you last ate last night, then Lucas, did you..." Samus turned to look at the quiet little blonde, who simply nodded, as if he knew what she was about to ask.

Samus sighed as she realized she was dealing with two kids that hadn't eaten since the day before, and it was roughly 3:30 in the afternoon. Maybe it was just her, but she hated it when kids went hungry and couldn't eat three meals a day like she could.

Little Link decided that he was going to add more to it, and it just added on to her frustration. "... I kind of get where they're coming from. I don't get to eat all that often, either. My journey kind of... takes a lot of time, and I'm not exactly skilled at fishing, and I spend a lot of time out in the water with no real quick access to everything."

"Are you saying you haven't really eaten today, either? Am I the only one who bothered to eat some breakfast?" Samus asked, using what she hoped sounded like a light, joking tone.

She noticed Little Link's cheeks turning pink. "K-kind of... I ate a fruit before the meeting, but only because Big Brother gave it to me. He called me "skinny little runt" and said I looked like I had to eat something. Though, to be fair, I had been stuck out on the water for a while before I got warped here. Usually I eat a little more than I had been, but I was trying to ration..."

Samus nodded at his words. "Well, at least you ate something, I suppose. God, I can't believe none of you... Argh! I just want the whole SNES and all that dealt with...!" She covered her face in her hands irritably. She cursed the Divisions, she cursed the Polygons, the Wireframes and the Alloys, even though they hadn't even done anything yet. She cursed the Hylian goddesses for creating the Links, because now that poor kid was going through his journey, as he had just admitted, on pretty much an empty stomach.

It wasn't fair.

"Samus?" Ness asked, crawling up to her. "Samus, it's okay... I mean, I'm still alive, right?"

She looked up from her hands to look at him closely. His face was dirty, his hair was dirty, his shirt, as she had just realized, had a tear on one sleeve now. She sighed, nodding. "... Yes... That's one good thing, I guess. That you're all alive."

Now it was time for Little Link's stomach to growl. He frowned at the sound and got up, taking out a bottle that had some water in it, before taking a drink.

Ness raised an eyebrow at that. "... Thirsty?"

Little Link looked at him, blinking for a moment, before shaking his head. "... Actually, it just stops my stomach from growling. It's the way I deal with it. Letting it continue to growl would just get me noticed by Bokoblins a whole lot quicker out in dungeons..."

Samus frowned somewhat, but decided not to say anything.

"Samus!" Fox suddenly showed up at the entrance to the alleyway, and she jumped at his sudden appearance. "Samus, I come with good news, and bad news."

"Oh, god," Samus groaned. "Bad news first."

"Bad news, right," Fox said with a nod. "So, the bad news is, I lost track of Captain Falcon. I look away for, like, two minutes, talking to Link, look back, and he's _gone_."

"Greeeeaaaaat," Samus strained. "Good news?"

"Link caught us fish. He's coming up behind me, now. I'm skipping out - I'm going to go look for Captain Falcon," Fox announced, before turning and running down the street again.

Shortly after his disappearance, Link appeared carrying a bundle of different types of fish of varying sizes. The young boys' faces lit up at the sight.

"Ah, awesome! I'm _starving_! When do we get to eat?!" Ness asked excitedly.

Link simply gestured to the fire. The silent words were obvious.

_I have to cook it first. _

* * *

It didn't take long for Link to cook through the fish, and soon after, the three boys were hungrily going through their fish like it was going out of style. Samus was eating hers somewhat more calmly, and she noticed Link picking through his, but clearly eating it, even if it wasn't fully. She recalled the eating habit from the Link she used to know - he wasn't much of a eater, either. It was probably where Little Link got his tendency to skip meals, too, as he had confessed. His chowing down of the fish was probably more due to the fact that, although he was a Link like them, he was still a growing boy and needed his food.

It soon became too quite for Samus, so she decided to start a conversation. "So, Link... big one. I see you don't have a fairy companion like the other one did. Do you have someone helping you out?"

[Kind of,] was his answer, before he picked at his fish meat. He then decided to add a bit more. [She's always with me, but she's not much of a people person.]

"I see," Samus replied. "And what about you, Little Link?"

"He's a talking red boat," Little Link announced, earning a few odd looks. "What? He is. He's who I bought my sail for. He was a boat without a sail. I use him to get around and he offers tips on where I should go next."

"You must be quite the sailor, then," Samus said with a smile.

"I'm pretty good, yeah," Little Link said somewhat proudly. "Probably helps the wind's always on my side."

The rain was still pouring down when Fox showed up considerably late dragging Captain Falcon back with him. Their state caused Samus and Link to immediately stand up, Link even grabbing the hilt of his sword.

Captain Falcon was knocked out, and his shoulder was bleeding. Fox's side looked worse for wear as well.

Fox said one thing. "... We found the Alloys."

* * *

They had immediately set up a makeshift bed and laid Captain Falcon down. Link had gone out to scout the area and Fox had joined him, despite Samus' protests. Ness, Lucas and Little Link were huddled around Captain Falcon as Samus tended to his shoulder injury.

"This is bad," Ness voiced, worriedly looking at her. "The Alloys - we didn't even hear anything!"

"It... It's n-n-n-not l-l-like b-before..." Lucas stammered, his voice shaky.

Little Link stayed oddly quiet.

Samus nodded. "I know, but that was probably what they were planning. Ugh, I can't deal with this... I have no medical supplies!" Samus complained, before finally managing to wrap a piece of cloth around Captain Falcon's upper arm. "That's going to have to do, at least until we head back to my place or make it to his, but knowing him, my medical kit is probably better supplied..."

"What about Dr. Mario?" Ness asked immediately. "Do you think we'd be able to call him?"

"No service out here on my phone," Samus immediately stated, shooting down the idea before it even began to rise. "I wouldn't be able to reach him. The service out here sucks for phones."

Lucas whimpered.

Little Link then went digging through his unseen pockets. "I... I think I have a healing potion in here somewhere..."

He quickly found it and Samus feed it slowly to Captain Falcon, before making him swallow. The taste woke him up, and the drink quickly did its job.

"... I know that taste anywhere..." he muttered, before looking up to see the four of them huddled around him. "... Huh? Oh, yeah... Where's Link and Fox?"

"Out making sure we're not going to get assassinated," Samus replied simply. She was clearly worried. "That leaves us to protect the kids."

"I can take care of myself!" Little Link claimed proudly.

A thumping, pounding sound came from the alley. Lucas yelped and attached himself to Ness' back instantly. Ness had jumped and turned to the alley, while Samus and Captain Falcon immediately pointed their weapons at the source. Little Link took hold of the hilt of his sword, turning swiftly as well.

An Alloy stepped through the alley, looking like a believable fuse of a Wireframe and a Polygon. Lucas whimpered and hid his face in Ness' shirt. The Alloy slowly turned in their direction, before menacingly beginning its approach.

"Oh, _hell no_," Captain Falcon voiced, before shooting it to the ground. More simply appeared. "You're getting nowhere near them!" He stood bravely before Samus and the boys. "And get the hell out of my Division, you losers!"

Samus immediately stepped up, bringing out her whip. "I'm helping out, too."

The Alloys charged, and Samus began to attack them with her paralyser whip with ease, as Captain Falcon readied a Falcon Punch on another. Ness fired a PK Fire at another one, while Little Link charged in with his sword, slashing at yet another. Lucas whimpered and yelped the whole time, before he was almost charged at by an Alloy and fired a FK Thunder at it in complete fear.

More just seemed to be coming, that is, until...

"Captain Falcon!" came a cry, before the Alloys were quite simply obliterated by a laser coming from the left.

Fox and Link appeared, and they looked angry.

"We need to get out," Fox announced. "This whole place is going to overrun. You're not going to believe it, the mayor actually said to head to SNES."

Captain Falcon blinked in disbelief. "You're kidding me, right? The mayor is anti-SNES as anyone could possibly get! He wants to blow it with a nuke, that's how much he hates it! And he's telling people to go there?!"

Fox gave a shrug. "To be honest, that place has more places to duck and hide than 64."

Samus wasn't sure what to do, so she simply turned to look at Captain Falcon. "What do you think?"

He simply turned to look at Ness. "Well, Ness? Want to go home?"

Ness clearly felt put on the spot. "I, uh..." He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "... Fine."

* * *

**FILE 02.5 - "A Message From Me"  
**_It has come to my attention that you do not remember me, or can hear me, Master. I should have foreseen this, as it has been a long time since our last meeting. I recall that our separation was necessary and you had hesitated, and I still appreciate the time that we spent together. I can only hope that you feel the same way of our alliance.  
It is still my deepest regret that there is a chance that you will not receive this message. Still, I will continue to make this reports in the hopes that one day, you will find them._


	3. File 03: SNES Division

**FILE 03 - "SNES Division"  
**_A report, Master.  
I have come to the upsetting conclusion that there is the possibility that I have outlived you- that perhaps, the one that I feel, the one that I am certain is my Master, and you, my true Master, are not possibly the same being.  
Still... the fact remains. You feel the same. I am conflicted._

* * *

SNES.

Home to the poorest, the hungriest, the most tired. The weak, the sick, the unemployed. At the end of the day, this is where they all settled, bonding together over their mutual hunger, their mutual frugal states.

The buildings were not built of brick here. They were build of toppled stone, scrap metal, rotten wood, and other materials that could be spared. Some with the space grew their own crops, but it was usually only one plant. They usually ended up sharing with the others as well.

Samus remembered all of this, and just stepping on the dirt path that served as the road brought back the memories of when she first met Ness. It had been on this road, just as they had been leaving. Mario, after recovering his lunch, had offered it to Ness upon realizing how hungry he was, and the boy... He outright refused, as he had been wrong to try and take it in the first place.

He had followed them to the road they were leaving on, and demanded that they take him with them, having realized they were fighting the very creatures that had destroyed his home, and killed his family. Samus remembered his shaking legs, his hoarse voice as he tried to yell over his begging stomach, his forehead sweating from his fever. She remembered how he fell over by the time he was done, having lost the strength that he had.

She remembered rushing over with Captain Falcon, deciding she was going to do all that she could for him.

... And still, he was on these streets.

Fox looked around with a sad expression. They received odd looks from some of the people, but they were quickly dismissed.

The rain was still coming, so they quickly ducked in a building for shelter. Fox yelped at the sight of a large cluster of cockroaches huddled in the corner.

"Just leave them," Ness suggested, huddling in the opposite corner. "As long as we don't have food, they'll leave us alone."

Samus quickly sat with him, Lucas squeezing himself into her other side. The Links huddled next to them and Captain Falcon gave a sigh.

"I just hope the Alloys don't follow us," he mentioned, looking out the window. "These people would be useless against them, they're completely defenseless."

The group went silent from there, until screaming sounded in the distance and all of them tensed.

"MONSTERS!" screamed out a woman, fleeing the scene holding her child close. Samus stood up immediately, just in time to see her get attacked by one of the Alloys. The child was left alone as the mother died, until a nearby man grabbed the young girl and ran away from the scene.

"Mama!" The child screamed in horror. "MAMA!"

They had been followed. So that had been the mayor's plan. He had seen an opportunity to purge the world of SNES, and he had used it, and they had walked right into it. Samus gritted her teeth as she saw the Alloys tear through the streets, taking out her weapon.

"Come on," she told the others. "I don't know about you, but rain or shine I am _doing my job. _Boys," she turned to address the youngest. "Stay here. Stay out of trouble." She then left the building into the chaos outside, attacking any Alloy that she happened to see.

Captain Falcon, Fox and Link quickly joined her, all of them slashing away at the Alloys that dared attack the streets. Link removed a bomb from his bag, and flung it at a large mass of Alloys that were approaching in the distance. Instantly that little group had dispersed, some expiring and some still edging on. At the realization that his bombs were highly effective, he earned a somewhat evil smirk. Captain Falcon used his Falcon Punch and then flung his fist over his shoulder at one approaching from behind. Fox relied mostly on his laser, but soon realized that it wasn't doing anything, returning to typical punches, throws and kicks.

Out of all of them, Link had the highest count, but that was mainly due to his spamming of bombs.

"SOMEONE! SOMEONE HELP ME!" called out a voice from the nearby home. Samus froze for a second when she recognized the voice.

_Holly._

Samus immediately rushed to her, attacking the Alloy that had been attempting to hurt her. The Alloy banged into the wall nearby it crumbled in, causing the roof to collapse right onto it, killing it instantly.

Holly tucked her hair behind her ear as she carefully approached, and Samus turned to look at her. She was five months pregnant, roughly, but she seemed okay, if a bit sleep deprived.

"Oh, Samus, thank you..." Holly teared up just seeing her. "I was so worried about you and the others... You haven't seen Ness, have you?"

"Ness?" Samus had been expecting her to ask about Tom and her six children first. She was sure her expression said it all.

If Holly noticed she didn't say anything. "Yes... He ran away almost three months ago... I didn't understand it, we liked him there with us, but now that I think about it... I think we might have coddled him too much, or made him feel too much at home. Or maybe he was worried about..." She glanced down at her swelling belly. "... Maybe he was worried about the baby. About Tom and I being able to feed him and the other children..."

Samus smiled and placed a hand on Holly's shoulder. "... He's a good kid. I'm sure he was just worried and didn't want you to worry about him when you had others to take care of. But... yes, I have seen him. And don't worry, he's fine."

Holly let out a sigh of relief.

"He's with us right now, and when all this is said and done, I'm doing what I should have done after I first met him..." Samus promised to herself and Holly. With a determined look, she said, "... I promise to take Ness home with me. I'll take care of him."

Holly nodded, a tearful smile on her face. "You'll be good for him. After all he's been through, he deserves it."

Samus smiled at her, and not long after, it fell. "But right now, Holly, I need you to run," Samus stressed, turning around to see more Alloys approaching. "Run for two, Holly. I'll hold them off."

Holly nodded once more, turning and running down the dirt road somewhat shakily. Samus easily made quick work of the approaching Alloys, and turned to see Fox dealing with a large group with some difficulty. She quickly moved to aid him just as Captain Falcon punched one Alloy's head into the ground with ease.

* * *

Screaming surrounded them from all sides, and Lucas was trembling with his hands attempting to block his ears. Ness shivered from the still pouring down rain and wished for the sun to come up, and he never did that. It was always uncomfortably warm in SNES.

He watched as Little Link paced back and forth and continuously peered out of the window as if expecting the battle to just be over. Finally, the Hylian pulled out his sword.

"I'm going out there and I'm helping!" he claimed, storming for the exit.

Ness immediately stood up and stopped him. "No! We were told to stay here!"

"Well, I can't do that anymore! I need to go out there and help those people!"

Ness knew full well that something inside the Links compelled them to be heroes. Something inside of them compelled them to do all that they did, save all the people that they did. Little Link was no exception, even if he looked different than the others with his green eyes, and had his voice. Still... Ness wasn't about to let him break the rules.

"But Samus said to stay here, she said to stay out of trouble," he said, grasping hard on Little Link's arms. "We can't leave here, we were told that."

"She didn't say we couldn't leave, she said to "Stay here". "Here" could mean anything, Ness," Little Link replied, pushing away from Ness. "I'm going to "stay here" in the SNES Division, and I'm going to help, _dammit_."

Lucas winced and whimpered at Little Link's words, and Ness watched helplessly as he turned around and left.

* * *

"Samus!" Captain Falcon called out. Samus immediately looked away from the Alloy she was fighting, kicking it in the face. "There's more coming!"

Link immediately blew into a little flute that he had with him, getting their attention. His strange little flute was shaped like a horseshoe, and it made Samus wonder if it was initially supposed to summon his version of Epona.

Her and Captain Falcon watched as he made his quick gestures. [I'll take care of it. They don't like my bombs.]

"Alright," Captain Falcon replied instantly, nodding in agreement. "You take care of the large clusters from now on. We'll take care of the strays."

Link nodded and rushed off, deploying a bomb. Samus and Captain Falcon ran off as well, off to help Fox struggling with a small group. A clash, and Samus quickly turned to see that Link had drawn out his Master Sword to attack an Alloy coming from behind.

She hadn't been paying attention, and before she knew it, a sound erupted from behind her and she swiftly turned, to see Little Link, with his own Master Sword embedded in where the Alloy's brain was supposed to be.

"I told you-!" she started, about ready to explode. "It's not safe out here!"

"And you seem to have forgotten that I am a Link!" exclaimed Little Link, jabbing one of his thumbs in his chest. "I can't just sit here and watch this all going on! I want to help!"

Samus was horribly conflicted. Behind the shell that she wore while she was doing her job, there was a caring, motherly part to her that always erupted when Ness was around. She was starting to feel the same way about Lucas as well, his soft, fragile nature bringing it out quicker. Before her stood a young boy, someone she felt had no business doing adult fights, but he was right. He was Link.

He was a Hero of the Hylians, someone meant to save their people. His journey just started a bit too early.

Which is why she felt that she was going to regret this. "... Fine. You can help. But stay close to me or Link at all times, okay?"

A swift nod and a little salute later, and Little Link went off to do battle with Alloys.

Samus gave a sharp sigh before turning to free Captain Falcon from a possible Alloy gang beating.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a dark room, an Alloy stepped up to a monitor that soon lit it all up with its light, revealing a cell-like area in the corner of the room.

"SHtfbAhsh, shetiViehw*," muttered the Alloy, before turning to another, more bulkier, taller Alloy that was sitting in a throne like chair. "JhswIflpc, shwtbicoado. Thwosvops ethwnws, oporth**."

"... ..." The taller Alloy was quiet for a moment, before it leaned slightly forward, its expressionless, featureless face seeming to glare at the smaller one. "... Thysjvowws. Ywjasivicshaw hyiswowna, haithsv, whtiwsnv, tha. Iwsv. WHTIASN."

The Alloy was quickly out of the room, racing off to tell the others the orders.

* * *

*: Your grace, a report.  
**: We found it, it's exactly where you said it was. There is only one major problem, the guards.  
***: It doesn't matter. I don't care how long it takes, what kind of materials we use, I want. That. WEAPON."

_Some information is required to be known, Master.  
Unlike the Polygons and the Wireframes before them, the Alloys have developed a form of speech patterns that are translatable to our language with plenty of effort by means of computers. However, ears of those with languages already in their minds are unable to comprehend this speech pattern and thus, are unable to understand it, as it comes out in a form of sounds and letters that your people entitled somewhat cleverly... "Gibberish."  
From this point onward, I will provide a means of understanding the Alloys speech._

* * *

__And finally, the last Alloy had finally been killed. Captain Falcon looked down on the sorry, pitiable creature that he had just punched into submission, and turned to look at Samus, Link, Fox and Little Link behind him.

"... I think that's the last of it," he announced, before looking around the area. "... I'm glad there wasn't as much damage this time around."

"This time around we were here to defend this place," Fox stated, helping a fallen woman to her feet. "There were no casualties, either, as far as I can tell."

"That's good news," Samus replied, a small smile forming. "Well, we've found and eliminated the threat of this bunch, but there are probably plenty more to follow."

Captain Falcon nodded. "Yeah, that's a good point. The Wireframes had more guys than this. We have to be careful from now on, keep an eye out, don't dillydally."

"Right," Fox agreed. Both Links next to him nodded as well.

Samus took out one of her many guns, and loaded it. "From now on, we're playing by the same rules as they are. The minute we see them, we're not hesitating. We're annihilating. It's a whole different game now."

"The game has changed," Captain Falcon immediately said, crossing his arms. "Let's go pick up Ness and Lucas, and see where we're at in terms of injuries and supplies. Then, I say we head back to the Wii Division and report to Master Hand after a quick recovery at Samus'."

Samus nodded right away at the suggestion. "Let's go then. Back to my place."

The next thing the people of SNES saw was the backs of their saviours, who they furiously waved goodbye, thanked, and wished good well to as they walked away, back to the higher parts of their home.

If anyone noticed Samus Aran walking away holding the hands of two little boys, no one ever commented. But one woman, standing next to her husband surrounded by her six children, gave a small smile.

All of them, all of the people of SNES, felt hope.

* * *

**FILE 03.5 - "Report"  
**_It has been confirmed. The data that I have collected, it all points to only one possibility. __You are not the same Master as the one that I once took orders from. The one that I worked with. __But somehow, you are the same as well. Yet, someone inside tells me that you are my Master.  
A reincarnation, perhaps? A possibility, but I lack the sufficient data to be completely sure of the conclusion I have settled on. _


	4. File 04: Wii Division

**FILE 04 - "Wii Division"  
**_Master, a report.  
For a long time since our last meeting and the necessary end to our agreement, I have been conducting a study of our planet and have come to the conclusion that the different Divisons, separated based on the condition of ones wages, was slowly built as time moved on and people became richer.  
The higher praisers, the Lords, viewed the poor as the unworthy of stepping on the same sidewalk as the rich, and thus, created a new Division each time they felt the rich had surpassed the current level. They then, rather cruelly, divided unequally, the money printed and the food processed every day, to make sure that these people stayed in their proper divisions.  
... It is a somewhat upsetting realization that such actions would take place. You once told me that everyone is equal, yet the Lords of Central Planet, and many others in higher Divisions, treat the sufferers of the SNES and similar areas like... like they are nothing._

* * *

Samus had never been more glad to step through her front door. A wave of relief came over all of them as they stepped through the frame, Captain Falcon collapsing on the first chair that he saw, exhausted completely.

Fox immediately sat down on the nearby couch, wincing and grabbing his side, as the Links emptied out their gear, everyone pausing when Little Link pulled out a massive hammer taller than he was, before deciding perhaps it wasn't as odd an occurrence as they originally thought.

Link pulling out a large Ball and Chain was the main contribution to their decision.

Captain Falcon and Samus then pulled out the first aid kit and Captain Falcon began treating Fox's side as Link began to tend to himself. Little Link didn't seem injured, as he tested the string on his bow and moved on to sorting through his arrows and rolling up his grappling hook.

Watching him for a moment, Samus decided to get to know the three newcomers a bit more as she waited for Captain Falcon and Fox to finish.

"So, Little Link," she started, and the Hylian boy immediately looked up at her. "What's this do?" She carefully lifted up a little leaf that he had taken out of his pouch.

Little Link gained a large grin as Ness and Lucas approached as well to learn about it. He held it up for everyone to see. "It's called a Deku Leaf! It was a present from the Deku Leaf himself!"

"Wow, really?!" Ness exclaimed in amazement.

"Uh huh," Little Link replied, nodding happily. "He gave it to me so that I could go save Makar, one of the Koroks."

"Koroks?" Samus asked, not recognizing the term.

"They're the Forest Spirits of the Forest Haven. Most of them fly around the Great Sea, planting the seeds of the Great Deku Tree. I got to see the ceremony where they all fly away to deliver them!" Little Link seemed happy at this accomplishment, before suddenly, his face fell. "... I wonder how that's going. I kind of left abruptly."

"What happened?" Ness asked, curious.

"Well, the King of Red Lions led me to where there was a castle under water! He called it Hyrule Castle. I traveled around in it for a little bit before I recovered the blade that he wanted me to," Little Link explained, before he took off the sheath that was hanging off his back, showing everyone the Master Sword. "... The minute I pulled it out... the entire world went dark and when I woke up, I was in the harbour."

So the sword, or something that had occurred when he had pulled it out, sent him here. Samus frowned trying to figure it all out, but something was missing. More information.

In the battle of the Wireframes, Young Link arriving had been because of a rift caused when they had sealed away the Polygons. It had been fixed when Zelda recreated the seal when she sealed away the Wireframes, and she had sent him back to his time. So what kind of rift was caused that would fling Little Link away?

Him arriving when he had just pulled out the Master Sword. That was no coincidence. Or, that was she felt, anyway. It was too fishy.

"Yeah, yeah! I think so, too!"

Hmm? Samus looked away from her thoughts for a minute, before she saw Link signing away at something, telling Little Link something that caused him to smile.

"Yeah! That seems to make sense!"

"What?" Ness laughed slightly.

Little Link smiled at Ness now. "Big Brother says that the Master Sword, or even the Goddesses, knew that I would be needed here, so it... or the Goddesses... sent me here when I became a Hero."

Samus considered his words, but Hylian lore and swords knowing where their masters needed to be sounded a little odd to her. "... I see, I suppose that makes some sort of sense."

An hour of conversation later, and Samus' phone decided to ring. With an annoyed grunt she turned to it and picked up the reciever. "Hello?"

"Samus?" came the voice from the other end. It was Dr. Mario. "Samus, Mewtwo says that one of you is injured."

Samus quickly found her eyes darting at Fox, who gave her a confused look. "Um... he's right about that."

"Which one of you?" Something told her he was already starting a new file. "I expect to see him."

"Uh, it was Fox, but Captain Falcon's checking up on it..."

Screaming in her ear caused her to pull away the receiver, holding it at arms length away.

"Hey, hey, hey!" she quickly barked into the phone. "Relax, relax! We'll bring him down!" And then she quickly hung up. "Geez!"

"Dr. Mario?" Captain Falcon quickly asked.

"Yeah," Samus muttered. "He wants to see Fox. Mewtwo told him."

"Annoying shrimp," Fox groaned. "Well, I suppose we don't have much of a choice."

"I'll bring him," Captain Falcon announced, already helping Fox to his feet. "I'll be back as soon as I can, and while I'm there, I can get information from Master Hand, too. See if he knows where more Alloys are."

Samus nodded at the offer. "That sounds like a good plan. Link and I can stay here, watch the kids, and watch the fort."

They shook on it.

* * *

_The building, it was falling, and on top of that, it was on fire. Crumbling around him like a demolition crew at come after his house. He could hear the sheep outside panicking, braying as they rushed away when the fence caved much like the walls of his home._

_He could hear screaming, too.  
_

_"Hinawa!" cried out his father, and for a moment, something in Lucas' heart flared. His father! His father was coming to save them!  
_

_"Dad!" cried his twin. "Dad, we're in here!"  
_

_"Children, go!" commanded Hinawa, his beloved mother. "Go, go to your father!"  
_

_"Mommy, what about you?!" Claus exclaimed. "We can't leave you here!"  
_

_"GO!"  
_

_Darkness. Before Lucas knew it, him and his brother were in the warm arms of his father, Flint, their dog barking madly at the fallen building. Their mother was gone. She had never gotten out of the house as it caved in around her.  
_

_These creatures... these creatures appearing to made of wire. They destroyed their house, and killed their mother. They had nothing left but each other.  
_

_... And then Claus was gone, too. He had gone after those... those things. And then one day, Flint turned to look at Lucas, a stern look on his face, and said...  
_

_"... Lucas, I need you to stay here with Boney. I'm going after your brother. You're a big boy, now. I have a friend coming to pick you up. He'll take care of you."  
_

_"Dad, where are you going?"  
_

_"I don't know. But I won't stop until I find Claus. I promise you that."  
_

_"You'll come back with him? You promise?"  
_

_"I promise." _

* * *

Lucas' eyes opened. A flashing light illuminated the guest room that he was resting in with the other boys. Sitting up, he glanced around to find that it had been coming from Little Link's pouch, but he decided that it was nothing important and lied back down into the bed, cuddling up between Ness and Little Link.

It was late, and there was a big day tomorrow, he figured. Captain Falcon would be coming back with more information on Alloys from Master Hand, and then they'll probably be heading off toward where they were. Lucas found himself grasping hard at the blankets that were keeping him warm.

They smelled wrong. They didn't smell like Boney.

Lucas wondered for a moment just how Boney was doing. Was he protecting the others, like he had asked him to do? The thought made him smile. Of course Boney was. Boney was the best protector out there. He'll watch them, make sure they don't get in trouble.

He turned his attention at the ceiling. It wasn't like the ceiling he had gotten used to over the last year. Had it really been that long? He missed them already.

Crashing sounded from downstairs and Lucas yelped and shivered. Little Link next to him had immediately sprang up, brandishing his Master Sword already, a feral look on his face. Lucas decided that the feral look didn't really look nice on him... It was very scary.

Little Link hopped off the bed as Ness was stirring, slightly opening up the door and peeking outside. The second floor hallway was bare of any intruder, so he started to tiptoe across the floor as more crashing and shuffling around sounded.

Ness and Lucas came up behind him.

"Is it a thief?" Ness whispered.

"Sounds like it," Little Link quickly replied in the same tone. The door beside them opened as Samus peered out.

"Get back in your room!" she harshly whispered, already wielding a gun of some kind. "Link's down there, he'll take care of it."

Little Link frowned, and somewhat knowingly, Lucas realized, before he hopped over the railing and onto the stairs, already pointing his sword at the intruder.

The others quickly rushed down to find an Alloy going through their things.

"Hey!" Samus immediately screamed. "Get out of our stuff!"

"Thsiayhrk*," the Alloy garbled.

Samus shot it, twice. The Alloy toppled before it straightened up, rushing at Lucas and Ness with suddenly a sharp piece of glass. Lucas quickly glanced at a nearby window, finding it smashed. He panicked, grasping tightly onto Ness, crying out in fear...

"No!" cried out a voice. "Not them!"

The Alloy never attacked Lucas and Ness. Ness gasped out, and Samus cried out in horror before firing on it again. Link, the big one, where was he? He wasn't here.

Lucas' eyes opened to find Little Link kneeling down on the carpeted floor, blood coming from his throat. He didn't seem to be in pain, as he wasn't screaming or anything... until Lucas realized that he was _trying to_, but _no sound_ was coming from him, except for a ghastly, harsh raspy gasp.

A sword suddenly appeared in the chest of the Alloy, which crumbled to the floor instantly. Lucas looked up to see Link standing there, an angry, feral look not unlike the one Little Link had worn before, on his face. He immediately kicked the body of the Alloy to the side, and rushed to Little Link immediately, Samus following soon after.

"Oh my god," Samus gasped out. "I don't think he's going to die, but..."

"I could fix it," Ness offered, his hand already glowing with the power of PSI. "I could try, anyway."

Lucas whimpered. "We... W-We're not s-strong enough, N-Ness... We... We'd need m-m-more..."

"More what?" Ness asked immediately, looking up at Lucas. "Little Link has _blood _coming from his _throat_, Lucas. We don't have time!"

"There's another PSI user I know... You... you met her," Lucas spoke slowly. Samus was amazed when she found no stutter. "... Kumatora. She'd be able to help us. I mean, I'm better at healing than she is, but she's more powerful..."

"We don't have time, Lucas," Ness argued. "Please, help me try."

Lucas, shivering all the way, knelt down beside Little Link, his hand glowing. Both PSI users placed their hands over Little Link's throat, and muttered "PSI Life Up!"

There was a moment of silence as the light flared and surrounded Little Link's throat. Link and Samus leaned forward a bit as the light died down.

The cut was now thick and scabbed over, but at least no blood was coming from it. Little Link moved his hand to touch it, but Link quickly smacked it, moving it away, signing "No" soon after. Little Link immediately deflated, and tried to argue, but instead of his voice, a horrible scraping sound came from him.

Link immediately signed [Stop talking.] and put a finger on Little Link's lips, silencing him. He then stood up, turning to Samus. [We might need Dr. Mario soon, again. I don't think it's going to heal right if we leave it like this.]

Samus immediately nodded. "I have to agree." She stood up once again, and took out a set of keys. "Link, put something over that broken window. Ness, you're in charge."

"Uh, where are you going?" he asked immediately.

"We're going to get the Doctor to set up a house appointment. Ness, I need you to watch Lucas and Little Link while we're gone," Samus immediately began to explain, moving to a piece of electronic equipment on her wall and pressing a few buttons. "I'm wiring up the security now. I should have done it in the first place, but..."

Link finished up blocking the window with some handy cardboard, and soon, the two of them were gone as well.

Ness immediately crossed his arms and fumed. Lucas and Little Link worriedly looked at him before he stood up and turned to Lucas.

"Why didn't it work all the way?" he immediately asked.

Lucas began hitting his two pointer fingers together. "Um, well... I-I-It's because th-that... we-we're just t-two users, right...? The more s-s-serious the i-injury, the m-more ha-harder it is to c-c-cure it..."

"That's why you said we needed Kumatora?" Ness immediately quizzed.

"Yeah!" Lucas replied. "She... She's stronger... th... than me... She'd do a b-b-better j-job..."

Little Link, who right now looked a lot like a lost little kitten, just kept glancing from one speaker to the next, clearly feeling as lost as he looked. Ness sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"... There's nothing we can do. Samus wired her security system. The minute we try to leave, she'll be alerted." He looked down, fiddling with his feet. "I mean, we could wait here for her to get Dr. Mario, but he likely won't be available for a bit. He's busy. I bet finding Kumatora would be a heck of a lot quicker, I mean, you know the way."

"I live with her," Lucas said with a smile. "I know the way to the hideout from any part of the Advance Division."

Little Link gave a small smile. Ness did as well.

And suddenly, Ness was wielding a baseball bat as well. "Here's the deal! Let's all get dressed, pack some clothes, steal some of Samus' food for the trip, and break out. There's that cardboard Link used to block out the window - we'll bust it out!"

Little Link sprang up immediately, making a silent cheer and pumping a fist in the air. He clearly agreed.

Soon, the children were all packed up, packing one of Samus' loafs of bread and some of her bottled water, and then moved on to gathering some of her first aid supplies, just in case. Little Link then geared up, making sure his Master Sword was tightly secure, and Ness and Lucas gathered up their bats and sticks, and then, they were on their way.

Of course, not until after Lucas decided to leave a note.

They ran away, to the Advance Division.

* * *

**FILE 04.5 - "Coded"  
**_It would appear that someone has put coding into the computers of the Lords to lock out anyone attempting to understand their reasoning with the separation and discrimination of the SNES and similar inhabitants.  
I had, admittedly, attempted to understand more, and thus, attempted to hack into their servers. I am sorry to report that I was unsuccessful in my attempts, but I was successful in earning some information.  
There is someone communicating with me, through a separate server using wireless connections between him and myself. He told me his theories, which I hope to one day explain to you._


	5. File 05: Advance Division, Section 01

**FILE 05 - "Advance Division"  
**_Master, a report. _  
_Everyday we get closer. I can feel it. Soon, I know, we will be reunited once again, and I have to admit, I look forward to our meeting. I simply cannot contain the feeling inside of me that tells me that I cannot wait for me to once again serve by your side properly. _  
_However, somewhere in me, I also feel the feeling you call... "dread". Will you be the same? Will I even be the same? Will things simply return to the way they were, or will things be different now?_

* * *

Lucas wasn't sure if Samus had ever gotten his note, but all he knew was this.

As soon as the kids made it to the Advance District, they quickly had to hide. Police scoured across the streets, demanding at random people for their identification, or risk getting arrested. This served as a problem to all three children, as neither of them had the files the police were looking for.

Ness didn't have any because he came from lowly SNES, where no one expected any identification.

Lucas' had been destroyed when his house came crashing down in flames over his mother.

Little Link wasn't even from their time. So, even if he _did _actually have identification, it wasn't even valid yet.

So the three runaways quickly ducked into the underground tunnels that also operated as the sewers. Lucas expertedly led the way until they made it to a crossroads. There, as the noises of their stomachs were echoing through the tunnels, they decided to have some of the bread.

When they started the journey, they had quickly discovered that Little Link was having trouble swallowing. Ness said it was because of the injury he had sustained, so Lucas spent some time breaking up the bread into smaller, more easily swallowed pieces, which Little Link had been grateful for. For the most part, they just wanted him to keep his throat from getting too dry, so they mainly focused on him drinking for the time being.

Ness had never had to take care of someone who was injured before. Samus was always there before, but this time the battle was more drawn out, and she felt they had time to _wait _for Dr. Mario. Ness felt different. He trusted Dr. Mario, but then he would hold onto the person for a week later, and they didn't have the time to be short two people, since he also had Fox.

Kumatora, however, from what he had learned from the past two-three months, was quick to give a bill of perfect health after PSI dealt with the issue, and she was _always _right. Sure, she could be a bit brash... but she was pretty fun to have around.

As the three ate and drank in silence, someone approached from the distance. Lucas looked up, panicked for a minute, until he suddenly broke out into a large smile, dropped his bread, and stood up. Ness looked at him in surprise, before Lucas dashed away, ramming himself into the hold of the new arrival.

Ness and Little Link watched as Lucas happily laughed, letting go of the new arrival.

And then Ness smiled.

"Duster!" exclaimed Lucas. "Duster, it's so good to see you!"

* * *

Needless to say, when Samus, Captain Falcon, and Link returned to her place to find the cardboard pushed out of the window and the children missing, all three adults panicked. Samus was relieved to eventually find the note, but it was not exactly the "We went out for five minutes" not she was expecting:

_Samus - _

_Me and the others decided that Little Link can't wait, so we're going off to the Advance area to meet with a friend of mine who can help. Her name is Kumatora.  
_

_If you come after us, I don't blame you... We did kind of disobey. But if you go to, ask around the streets for a man named "Duster", because we'll be with him when we meet with Kumatora.  
_

_Signed,  
_

_Lucas  
__  
_For a moment, Samus felt slightly betrayed that the children had disobeyed her, before she decided that they were right - waiting around for Dr. Mario to get to it would take some time, and they were probably worried about that horrible scratching sound Little Link was now making. Ness was one to worry.

She had never heard of this "Duster" character though, or this "Kumatora". She had once lived in the Advance Division herself, but she didn't recall either of...

Wait.

"Duster" as in Wess' little Duster? Samus frowned. That little boy she once knew must be in his twenties by now. So he had survived the Wireframes? That was good news. She remembered the thief Wess. He had tried for as long as she could remember to teach Duster the ways of the Thief Arts, but recalled one incident...

"Samus?"

Samus once again blinked away from her memories and thoughts to find herself standing in her living room. "What?"

"Samus, should we get going, then?" Captain Falcon asked. She noted he looked worried. "Where did they go?"

"Pack up," she ordered. Link immediately turned to her kitchen to do just that. "They're heading to the Advance Division, to meet up with one of Lucas' friends who he thinks can help Little Link."

As they were getting ready, Samus immediately fretted. The Advance Division was closer to the slums and was a long trip on foot, which is what the kids were probably doing. Three days, if they were rushing.

Link, coming out of the kitchen with some supplies, seemed to notice her dilemma. He approached her slowly, and she watched him carefully, still not fully trusting this new version of her old friend.

He didn't move his hands to sign anything for a moment, before he slowly signed, [I might be able to help track them down, if you wish me to.]

Samus tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

[My friend, that I told you about in 64. She can help.]

"How so?"

[You might not believe me if I tell you, so I'll do it.] He then, glanced down at his shadow, and a wispy being came from it. One eye glowed from the being as it blinked at him.

"_Link, did you want me to do it here?_" A female voice came from the being, an ethereal feeling coming from her words.

Link only gave a nod.

And, suddenly, he was surrounding in shadow, until he completely transformed into a big, furry wolf, which the being landed on his back to ride, suddenly very visible and very real. She would have been described as cute if Samus didn't think she looked just a tiny bit evil. Link, after a moment of glaring at the being, turned to quietly look at Samus.

She blinked, stunned for a moment. She didn't think anything at all for a few minutes, before finally, she said, "I'll go see if they left anything here."

Link nodded.

* * *

Ness and Little Link didn't know how long Lucas just stayed in Duster's hold, but eventually the young man chuckled and moved to let go.

"Lucas. I have to get up or I'm not going to be able to stand for a bit," he said, as Lucas finally let go. He then painfully stood up and smiled at Ness. "Ness, good to see you again."

"Likewise!" Ness chirped.

"And who's this?" Duster asked, glancing at the Hylian.

"This is Little Link," Lucas introduced. "Little Link, this is my caretaker, Duster. My dad left me in his care."

Little Link was about to say hello, but stopped, remembering Link's words. He frowned and put a hand slightly to his throat. He was getting more and more agitated about his injury.

Duster frowned somewhat at the boy's actions, before turning to Lucas with a smile. "So, what are you doing back? I thought you were going to be with Ness for a bit, saving the world?"

"We hit a little problem." Lucas' voice didn't stutter at all as he spoke. "I need Kumatora's help, because both me and Ness' PSI Life Up did only a little bit... See, Little Link got hurt..."

Duster's eyes flashed to Little Link's throat. "I can tell. Well, how about we head home for a little bit. I'll make us some soup, and Kumatora should be there now anyway."

* * *

The sunset made the sky a beautiful orange.

From the harbours of the Advance Division, the sky was completely visible over the water. Samus always admired the view from the walkways, looking over the ships and sailboats to the very edge of the oceanview, with the sky looking back at her. She remembered all the times she had just stopped on her way home just to forget about life and look out at it.

This time, she wanted no more than to do it now. Forget about the Alloys and the upcoming battles, forget about the hole in her window, forget about the fact that Ness, Lucas and Little Link had disobeyed and had run off. She couldn't afford to do that right now, because she had to find them. She had to make sure they were safe. She had to defeat the Alloys or the same disasters would happen over and over again.

"Excuse me," came Captain Falcon's voice. Samus looked away from the ocean to see he was speaking to a baker. "Do you know someone named Duster? My group and I are trying to find him."

"Duster?" asked the baker. He had a frown on his face. "Now wait just a minute - I know that lady. She's a bounty hunter. I ain't telling you where Duster went."

"You misunderstand," Samus immediately argued, coming up to him now. "I'm off duty at the moment and I'm trying to find a friend. He told me that if I needed to get a hold of him, I just had to ask Duster."

The baker was quiet for a long moment, regarding the group and looking down at the beastly wolf by Captain Falcon's side, with the strange imp thing on his back. The baker then looked away for a moment, before finally sighing. "... Fine. But you have to promise me - you're not going to arrest him. That guy... he took care of every single orphaned kid from that attack about a year ago. He still does. He does so much for those kids, that I worry what would happen to them if he was gone. I can take you to where he lives, but I want to make sure you're not going to do it."

"I can give you my word," Samus replied instantly. "I give you my word that I will not arrest Duster. I know his father. I wouldn't ever disgrace Wess because of what he does, because he does it for the good of the people. I won't arrest Duster."

"He does what he does because he has little mouths to feed," was the baker's reply. "Some of those kids are gone now... Some were adopted... others were just too sick. But little Lucas, and little Kumatora... those two are his. I know Lucas' father is still alive, but that man..." The baker earned a disgusted look. "He went on a wild goose chase after his other son. Claus, I think it was."

"Wild goose chase?" Captain Falcon blurted out.

"Oh, everyone knows Claus is gone. He went after those things that destroyed his house, and with it, poor Hinawa, Flint's wife and the mother to the twins," the baker explained. "Flint felt that Claus was still alive, but it's been a year now. I don't think the man's coming back. Poor Lucas..."

Samus felt a lump in her throat just from hearing the explanation. Lucas was all alone except for Duster and Kumatora. "I see..."

"Well, anyway, his place is this way," the baker began, closing up shop as he spoke. "I'll take you as far as the tunnels, from there it's pretty straight forward."

"Thank you," Captain Falcon replied. Samus could see the pained look he was trying to hide.

What more were these things going to take away from children? Ness' family and home. Lucas' family. Little Link's voice was probably going to be a casualty.

What would make them stop?

* * *

"Knock it off!" Ness exclaimed.

"Bwahahahaha! Come on! You run away with my little brother and you think I'll just let you get away with it?!" laughed a pink haired girl wearing a blue sweater-dress pullover. "What are you going to say? I'm expecting something~!"

Little Link, Lucas and Duster cleverly ignored the encounter as the two young boys watched the young man prepare the soup. The little shack like building was small, but very homely, and somewhat cluttered with the various things that Duster had acquired for sale. The somewhat working fridge was stocked with stolen goods, the dressers filled with various clothes, some in need of repair.

Despite the state of the place, Lucas had grown to call this place "home". He had been left in Duster's care, and had expected his father to come back very soon. A year later, Lucas almost didn't even want his dad to come back. Duster was now his dad, in all but blood. Duster was the one that taught him how to make various foods, Duster was the one that tucked him in bed now and even comforted him after a nightmare. Kumatora had quickly taken to him and instantly began to call him her "little brother". He never hesitated to call her "big sister".

Boney bounced about, joining in on the fun easily. Eventually, though, everyone settled down on the floor of the kitchen, the three PSI users surrounding the injured Hylian as Duster stayed off to the side and out of the way, cutting away at harvested herbs he would need for the soup.

"Alright, so we're dealing with vocal cords," Kumatora sighed sharply. "That's hard stuff, vocal cords, but I'm sure we can manage. On three! One! Two!"

On "Three!" the three PSI users cried out "PSI Life Up!" and a light came around the four of them. Duster had to stop his preparations as he could no longer see. Boney barked loudly at the sudden bright light, stopping once it died away.

Kumatora opened the eyes she hadn't realized she had closed. Looking at the Hylian, she smiled when she learned they had done it, they had cured him! Upon seeing the sword strapped to his back, however, she had to frown. It was reacting.

"Did we do it?" muttered Ness as he opened his own eyes.

"Hold on. Little Link! Speak!" Kumatora ordered, as if she was speaking to Boney.

Little Link hesitated before saluting. "Yes, m'am!" His voice was scratchy, almost as if he had lost his voice and was getting it back. Still, it was better than anything.

The three PSI users cheered instantly, and Duster even appluaded.

"We did it!" cheered Ness. "We did it!"

"Yaaay," Lucas quietly said happily.

Kumatora then became very serious. "Hey, can I see that sword?"

Little Link immediately frowned. "... Why?"

"I just want to see it. I'm getting some weird vibes from it. What is it?"

"The sword of evil's bane, the Master Sword," replied Little Link, taking it off his back. He kept it in its scabbard, just in case.

Kumatora carefully held it in her hands. Duster, who had gone back to making his soup, glanced at the sudden serious silence. Ness and Lucas eyed her curiously, wondering what she wanted with the sword.

She grasped at the hilt slightly, and gasped out as her mind was suddenly overcome by images. Her psychic powers delivered those images to everyone else in the room, and they were all overwhelmed by what she had to see.

* * *

_The sky, oh the big blue sky, with a floating island..._

* * *

_Two large birds flew through the clouds, each with a rider with blonde hair... _

* * *

_Such happy faces, happy faces of villagers..._

* * *

_And then a man, a scary looking man attacking one of the riders from before..._

* * *

_Adventures. The man went on so many adventures..._

* * *

_And then silence, as he sadly stuck the blade into a pedestal of stone, and everything went black..._

* * *

"Wh... What was that?" muttered Duster incoherently. He had almost toppled over the soup he had been making through the flashing images.

Kumatora was quiet for a moment, before finally she spoke. "... I think... I think that was the sword's memories. The sword... it... it's _alive, _and it wants nothing more than to be with you, Little Link." She then returned the sword to his hands, a smile on her face. "It is so devoted to you, I was overwhelmed."

Ness and Lucas appeared confused, but Little Link was even more confused.

"... The sword is... alive?" He glance down at it, surprised.

He wondered... if the sword was alive, did it have a personality? Did it have likes and dislikes? What was it like? But just the idea...

It was _alive._

* * *

**FILE 05.5 - "A Reunion"  
**_Master, I cannot contain or properly describe the feeling that I have inside of me.  
It feels like every fiber of my being will explode, like I am happy, yet want to cry just upon our re-meeting. It means so much to me to be able to serve by your side, as the Goddess had once willed and allowed me to do. I had once called the information and data that I had recorded on our journey... the most precious data I had on record. Now... Now I have a chance to improve on it, to add more data and facts, to aid you once again, to serve you, Master.  
Please, allow me to once again. __  
_


	6. File 06: Advance Division, Section 02

**FILE 06 - "Devotion"  
**_Master, so shall it be known.  
From this moment forward, I am your servant, willingly serving by your side as your blade, your confidant, your aid.  
I shall always be devoted to you, and only you, and every incarnation of you. I will never leave your side, not willingly. Never willingly. It has been my task to always serve you, and I shall always serve that purpose.  
_

* * *

"Bloody hell."

That was the only phrase that came from Captain Falcon upon arriving at the run down home just outside of the main area of the Advance Division. Run down and decrepit, the group could see that the home had at least two floors, and the door was coming loose from its hinges. When they knocked, Samus felt for a moment that it would even fall off. Link quickly returned back to his human state, his friend disappearing into his shadow. Samus unfortunately didn't remember her name.

It didn't take long for a set of off tempo steps to sound from the inside of the building. Soon, it opened wide, and they were greeted with the face of Duster.

"... Can I help you?" was his words, stated with a somewhat kind tone.

"Uh, hi," started Samus somewhat awkwardly. "I'm looking for three boys - two with blonde hair, one with black. One of the blondes is Hylian and..."

"Don't worry 'bout it," Duster interrupted, shaking his head and waving a hand at her. "They're here. You made it to the right place. Name's Duster."

Samus stopped. "Samus."

"Captain Falcon!

"This is Link," Samus added, gesturing to the silent young man. "And you have the boys?"

"Yep," Duster replied. He limped out of the way, gesturing for them to come in. "You arrived at a good time. I just made some soup."

The three adults stepped inside to find Lucas and the others huddled around Little Link's sword, a pink-haired girl poking and prodding at the hilt, as if trying to coax it. Samus felt it was somewhat odd, but decided they were just playing a game. She had to stop when suddenly there was a brown dog in her way.

"Dog's Lucas'," Duster explained as he limped away to the nearby counter. "Name's Boney. The girl with the boys is Kumatora."

The place was better than Samus had expected. She remembered Wess' place - run down as well, but with rotting walls and dirty floors and counters. At least this place showed some effort in keeping it clean. From her memory, she didn't recall the limp being as noticeable, but maybe that was just her mind making things up.

As soon as the adults were inside and Link closed the door, Ness looked up and shouted in excitement, jumping up and rushing over to them. He gave a wide smile and exclaimed, "You made it!"

"That's right, kiddo, we did," Captain Falcon laughed. "Still no word on Fox, but Dr. Mario's working on it, he said. How's Little Link?"

"How about you ask him?" Ness asked somewhat slyly. "Kumatora really helped us out, but at the moment she's checking out the Master Sword."

"What for?" Samus asked, noticing Link's suddenly somewhat feral expression. All Links were protective of their sword.

"She said it was _alive_. Can you imagine?" Ness seemed excited to recite these words. The three older Brothers gave him confused looks, but he just shrugged. "Don't ask me, I didn't even notice anything weird about it until she pointed it out. It has memories, memories of all kinds of Links before Little Link. _Memories,_ guys. It remembers!"

Captain Falcon crossed his arms and frowned somewhat. "That's something big to announce, little buddy."

"Hey, I saw them," Ness replied, pointing at Captain Falcon. "I saw them! It remembers a big sky, with floating islands, and I bet I saw the _first Link_ flying through them on a big red bird! And I saw the _first Zelda _and the first villain, and the making of Hyrule!"

Link blinked at the claims. He almost wanted to cut in, but Ness continued to speak.

"And then, they all ended at a point where the first Link had to put the sword in the pedestal where all the other Links found it - he seemed kind of sad to do it, but he had to," Ness said further. "For a while after the sword was placed in, it just focused on Link for a bit, and then everything faded away..."

None of them knew what to say at Ness' words. None of them really got a chance, as suddenly, Duster was inching into the room a wide table with some difficulty. Captain Falcon and Link quickly went to help, and soon, they were all crowded around the table eating away at the soup that Duster had prepared. Samus watched the boys carefully, seeing how happy Lucas was to be here. He sat beside Duster immediately, and Ness decided to sit next next to him. Kumatora quickly claimed the spot on the other side of Duster, and Boney opted to circle the table excitedly, as if he was hoping to get scraps.

Duster gestured to the kitchen once Boney reached him. "Food's in there, buddy. It's soup for us today, so you're not getting any table scraps this time."

The dog immediately whined and sauntered off toward the kitchen.

"So, Duster," Captain Falcon began, earning his attention. "You take care of Lucas and Kumatora?"

"I've been taking care of Kumatora ever since she was a small little thing," Duster replied, turning his eyes to his soup. "Lucas was kind of... dropped on me by his father, Flint. He wanted to make sure that Lucas would be okay while he was gone looking for Claus, but... he hasn't been seen since."

"You're a brave man, taking them in. There's all kinds of kids wandering around 64 where I live, but no one really has the bravery to take them in," Captain Falcon continued, giving a sigh. "I would do it if I had the room, but unfortunately, I don't."

"I do what I can," Duster answered. He seemed to at least appreciate the praise. "I mean, I'm not saying it's easy, because it's not. The harbour's the poorest part of the Division, I don't get a lot of money coming in. But these two..." He then put his hands on Lucas' and Kumatora's heads, affectionately. Both of them giggled. "These two are worth it."

* * *

Soon, it was nighttime. Strange sounds erupted from outside as Duster locked his door and closed all of his windows. He turned to see the strange looks he was getting and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry, guys. You're not heading home today," he said, limping toward the couch where Captain Falcon was sitting. "Strange mutated creatures come out at night and attack anyone out in the fields. We're smack dab right in the middle of it, so I'm not kicking you guys out knowing you'll get attacked."

Samus nodded from the chair. "We appreciate the concern."

Duster nodded right back. "I hope you don't mind staying the night, then."

Link shook his head. He was already taking off his gear.

Duster quickly ushered the children upstairs and put them to bed. Lucas and Kumatora offered to share their shared bedroom, and with some help of Captain Falcon, Duster moved in some stored mattresses from when he had more children staying with him.

As soon as the children were put to bed, Duster headed back down to make sure Boney had some water, before settling down on the couch next to Captain Falcon, massaging his lower left leg.

"So..." Captain Falcon began, looking at it worriedly. "What happened?"

"My dad was training me in thief arts when I was younger than Lucas," Duster explained. "An incident with Wall Staples went a bit... out of control. I slipped and fell, and... well, sprained both my ankle and got one of them stuck in my leg. I panicked... I mean, there was a lot of blood, but my dad kept his cool and took me right home. He took care of it as best he could... But I guess home medical care wasn't enough for it."

"And now..."

"Yeah, now I limp and agitate it almost everyday because I have to keep up with Kumatora and Lucas," Duster went on to explain further. "It's easy to ignore it now, though. So don't worry too much about it."

Samus leaned forward a bit, preparing to say something then. "You know, I'm glad Lucas has you and Kumatora. Ness didn't have anyone after the Polygons attacked, and even though one of the families offered to take care of him, he left the moment that he began to worry that he was a burden..."

"Ness told me about that," Duster said with a nod. "Said that the woman who was taking care of him was pregnant with her seventh. I can't believe it."

She shook her head. "Yeah, I can't, either... That's why I'm saying that I'm glad that Lucas has you to take care of him. I'm glad that he still has the feeling of family, of security."

"I try my best with what I've got," Duster replied. "... I admit, I don't pay for my bread, and I don't pay for a lot of the meat that I make. Sometimes I have to steal. I've got two growing mouths to feed, as well as a dog, and then myself and whatever street kid comes begging."

Something told Samus he was referring to Ness.

Duster then crossed his arms and shook his head. "Point is, it's hard, but those two kids that I take care of... I'd do anything to ensure that they were happy, that they at least aren't hungry when they go to bed, that they have a bed... Heck, if Flint came by tomorrow and said he wanted Lucas back, I'd punch him in between the eyes."

Samus' eyes widened at the words. Captain Falcon made a choking sound. Link looked at Duster, surprised.

If Duster noticed the looks he was getting, he didn't make any indication. "Flint's done nothing for that kid since Hinawa died. I'm the one that comforted him for the past year. I'm the one that had to help him with every nightmare he's had about the Wireframes and Hinawa. I'm the one that had to come up for a reason as to why his father wasn't back yet from looking for Claus. I don't think Lucas is over the death of Hinawa, and Flint just seemed to think that Claus was more important than helping Lucas through the death of his mother."

He leaned forward a bit, clearly angry with Flint.

"He's never getting Lucas back from me. It's his fault for deserting him."

Captain Falcon suddenly grinned. "To be honest, I completely agree with you. I bet you've been more of a father to that kid than that other guy ever was in all his life in the past year."

Duster smiled.

* * *

"We're supposed to be sleeping!"

"Oh, come on, I just want to see...!"

"... It's not waking up, I bet it just wants me to sleep, like I was told to..."

"Guys...! If Duster finds out that we're not sleeping, we'll be in trouble...!"

The four children were huddled around the Master Sword in the center of Kumatora and Lucas' bedroom on the second floor. The sword appeared bare, nothing special. Little Link carefully placed his hand on the hilt again, and focused.

_Please... Can I see you? I'd like to meet you..._

The room was quiet for a moment, when suddenly, the hilt of the sword began to pulse a bright blue light. The four children gasped out of surprise for a moment. Kumatora then broke into a grin, practically bursting with excitement as she tackled Lucas into a hug.

"Look, look! Look!"

Little Link grasped the sword, and then, to his amazement...

... A figure burst from the sword, a beautiful blue figure with no arms, but a flowing cape. A figure with a blue dress and dark navy stockings with criss-crossing blue lines going down it. The figure didn't blink its eyes, but then its mouth began to move.

"_You wished to speak, Master?_" it asked suddenly, it's voice quiet. It appeared to know that they weren't supposed to be up.

Little Link burst into a smile. "I wanted to meet you! I'm sure you know who I am."

"_That I do. Your name is 'Link', and you are the Hero of the Winds. When you acquired me, you were taken from your journey to this planet, as this is where the Heroes are needed,_" the figure spoke. It then twirled in place and bowed delicately toward him. "_The designation I was given by the Goddess Hylia upon my creation was 'Fi'. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance once again and serve by your side as had been my original task handed to me._"

For a moment, the four children were silent as they admired the figure now known as Fi. It appeared to be a she, so Little Link decided to think of her as that. He smiled up at her in awe, immediately nodding.

"Thank you, Fi. See, it's just me, now, except for my friends. The one that had been helping me is not with me anymore... I kind of left him behind," he explained.

"_I understand the predicament in which you have been placed,_" Fi replied with a quick nod of her head. "_It is with the utmost devotion that I will intend to serve you and aid you in this quest, and help you as best as I can. With my former Master, the original Link, I had been intended as a guide, as an aide. Now I wish to serve the same function toward you._"

Little Link nodded, clearly excited. Kumatora, Ness and Lucas leaned forward, anticipation rising in their hearts.

"_Whenever you require my assistance, grasp the hilt of the blade and think of my name. It will alert me that you request my aide, and I shall come forth from it,_" Fi continued. Then, she faded, disappearing back into the blade.

The room was quiet for a moment.

Then, Ness spoke. "That. Was. AWESOME."

"She's very pretty..." muttered Lucas shyly.

"Yeah, she's pretty awesome and pretty," Kumatora agreed, before flashing a toothy smile. "But the whole thing was pretty cool. Now you have some extra help, Little Link!"

Little Link nodded, a small smile on his face as he admired his sword. He felt a strange, familiar pang inside of him when he had seen her. Although he tried to hold it back, it felt like he had seen her before. It was like... He was glad to see her again. Happy... yet sad. As if before, he had to say a goodbye that felt like it was forever.

But not this time. This time she'll stay awake.

* * *

The next morning brought a bit of rain. Duster grumbled to himself as he limped around the house leaving buckets where leaks were in his roof that he kept telling himself to fix. Lucas was stationed in the kitchen that morning, asked by Duster to make breakfast as he defended them from water. So, Lucas took an old frying pan, some eggs from the nearby farm, and began to make omelets.

He hummed away cheerfully as he did so, and soon, everyone was enjoying them. Just as the group was about to leave after a tearful goodbye from Kumatora before she rushed away to her room, claiming she wasn't crying, Duster approached Samus with a duffel bag.

"This stuff is for you," he explained, handing it to her. "It's a few of Lucas' things that I'm sure he'll appreciate having now that he's going to be heading off with you, helping out and all that."

Samus took the bag and opened it, seeing a few odd items. A doorknob, a bat, a few strange sticks, a badge... and a snake?

"Listen."

She looked up at Duster, a serious look on her face.

"Samus, you're the only one that I feel like I can entrust Lucas to. So you have to promise me that you'll watch him for me," he told her. His voice was deathly serious. "Right now, he's my responsibility, but I'm temporarily passing that on to you. Please. Just watch him for me."

"I will, Duster." She meant it.

The group headed off, and Duster watched from his window. He couldn't help but feel that something very wrong was going to happen to Central Planet. He was no psychic, but he felt that he was gaining a bit of a sensitivity to the world around him due to Kumatora and Lucas' capabilities. He gave a sigh and looked down at Boney.

"I guess all we have to do now is wait, boy," he said to the dog, patting him on the head. "Wait, and make sure Kumatora doesn't go after them."

* * *

The Alloys looked out over the Gamecube Division, already loading a large cannon with some kind of ammo.

They were quiet as they moved, except for one humming the theme song to Super Smash Brothers. Another glared at it as they locked and loaded and then finally, they all turned to the unsuspecting Division below them.

Finally, their maker arrived, lurking in the shadows and gazing down at the moving and bustling people below. A haunted mansion, a farmer tended to his crops and animals as the townspeople went about their daily lives. A Pokemon trainer walked through the streets, followed by his Espeon and Umbreon.

Peaceful. But not for long. The leader of the Alloys turned to them, and finally, uttered one very dark word with a soft, hidden sneer.

"... Fire."

* * *

**FILE 06.5 - "Love"**

_Y_o_u_'_v_e_ g_r_o_w_n _t_o _b_e _s_u_c_h _a_ s_t_r_o_n_g_ b_o_y_,_ h_a_v_e_n_'_t _y_o_u_?_

I_'m s_o_ p_r_o_u_d _o_f _y_o_u_._

_I _l_o_v_e _y_o_u_ v_e_r_y_ m_u_c_h_. I_'_m _a_l_w_a_y_s _h_e_r_e _f_o_r_ y_o_u. _H_a_v_e _n_o _f_e_a_r. _I_'m _w_i_t_h _y_o_u_. A_l_w_a_y_s_._


	7. File 07: Gamecube Division

**FILE 07 - "Gamecube Division"  
**_Master, a report.  
According to my data, the Gamecube Division was recently attacked by a large, hurdling ball of iron and metal. Statistics show that injuries were caused and buildings had been damaged, but the full results of the damage sustained have not yet been calculated. It is suggested that at the earliest convenience, you are to investigate the matter, as there is a 97% probability that the Alloys are behind this devastating event. _

* * *

It had been all over the news less than five minutes after the occurrence of a cannonball striking down about an entire block, and of course, the group had heard it. Samus quickly decided that they were going to head over to the Gamecube Division as soon as they had seen the broadcast displaying on a television set at a stand in Advance.

Fi quickly reported afterward that there was a high chance that the Alloys were behind it. As Captain Falcon had then put it,

"Let's get those mother-effers."

... And so they quickly did.

* * *

"Oh, wow! Look at all of this!" exclaimed Ness upon seeing the toppled over buildings and the crushed streets. It was a warzone, with Alloys racing to and fro attacking anyone in their path. "This is horrible!"

Lucas quickly raced to Ness' side, clutching his arm. "N-Ness..."

"Alright," Samus began, deciding that if they were going to act, it was going to be now, "Captain Falcon, you stay with Ness. Link, you stay with the other Link. Lucas, you're with me."

Lucas very quickly let go of Ness and attached himself to her hip.

"If you run into any trouble, there's no shame in running. Our meeting place shall be here, at this intersection," Samus explained. Someone screamed in the background and an explosion went off. Samus ignored it. "Alright, let's split up and try and solve this quickly."

"Right!" exclaimed everyone, before they split off from each other.

Samus and Lucas headed off to one of the outward streets, where some of the commotion had been coming from. An Alloy was spotted rather quickly, beating up on a poor little Torchic while a Treeko attempted to protect it. Samus quickly raced up and attacked it with her fist, and it very swiftly left the street racing away, somewhat sluggishly.

Lucas rushed to the side of the Torchic, using PSI to heal it. Once the Pokemon were okay, they ran off.

"... Wh... What do we d-d-do now?" Lucas asked, looking up at Samus. "Do we... Do we go out and find m-more of th-those things?"

"We have no choice," she told him, turning to him with a small smile. "But don't worry. I'm here to watch you."

Lucas gave her an odd expression. For a moment, Samus wondered what the purpose behind his questionable look was, but then decided that he was figuring out what Duster had asked of her. The two of them continued to step through the streets, and Samus quickly grew tired of the lone Alloys that seemed to be terrorizing the locals.

Eventually they stumbled upon the ruins of the outskirts of the Gamecube division, seeing the trashed farm that the Alloys had layed waste to. Samus lowered her head, seeing the corpses of the cows and sheep, and even a few ducks and chickens. The crops had been burned and the cabin next to them had been completely destroyed. Lucas latched himself to her arm, whimpering slightly out of sadness. They picked through the ruins to at least find survivors, but all they found was the body of an old man in the second cottage that had fallen down, along with a worn teddybear.

They continued on, defeating Alloys as they went, and eventually they found a group of farmers defending against a large mass of Alloys with pitchforks, sickles, hoes and axes. Samus quickly rushed up, attacking about five with a paralyser whip. Lucas focused his energy and launched a PK Love at the group as well.

"'Mam!" claimed one of the farmers. His response was a grunt. "We thank you kindly for your help!"

"They took Takakura from us!" claimed a young brunette female. In her arms was a little boy that appeared much like her in appearance. "They took him!" Next to her was a young man that must have been her husband, his brown hair ruffled from the battle.

"Just focus on the task at hand!" exclaimed a big woman with wild hair. "We have to defend the crops!"

The farmers charged, all bearing makeshift weaponry. Samus exclaimed out in fear for a moment, before she had to swiftly turn and attack an incoming attack from an Alloy. Lucas exclaimed "PK Fire!" for a while before he suddenly switched tactics and demanded a "PK Thunder!". Samus kicked an Alloy before turning on another, striking him to the ground. When another Alloy came up behind her, she grabbed its arm and threw it over her, slamming it right into the ground.

The battle raged on, before finally, one of the farmers killed the last one with an attack from his hoe. They gathered together, the woman with her child crying slightly.

"What are they?" asked the big woman with the wild hair. "I've never seen creatures like them, before."

"They're called Alloys," Samus explained as Lucas walked up to stand beside her. "They're creatures of unknown origin, but they're attacking Central Planet, much like the Wireframes and Polygons before them."

"Takakura..." sniffed the young mother.

"Well, I assume that there's more of 'em," continued the big woman, turning to her family. "C'mon, all of you. I suppose we got to collect the rest of the neighbourhood that's left and get a move on out of here. Gamecube is no longer safe."

"And Takakura?" asked the black haired man. "What should we do with him, Vesta?"

"Gather him up, too, Marlin," decided Vesta, before she turned to face Samus. "Thank you again. Not many folk like to help others like you did. You're raising your son, well."

And then without even giving Samus a chance to explain that Lucas wasn't her son, Vesta and her family wandered off.

Lucas suddenly cried out, chasing after the young mother, who turned in surprise. "Um, I found this," he said, showing her the teddybear they had found in the ruins of the cottages. "Is it your kid's?"

"Teddy! TEDDY!" exclaimed the child, and the mother gratefully took it.

"Thank you," she told him, before she turned back to her family, following them.

Lucas turned with a smile back toward Samus, and the two began the search again for the Alloys.

Their search took them to another area completely, one that was lined with townhouses. A familiar blue fox raced past them chased by the Alloys. Samus recognized her immediately.

"Krystal!" she called out, before she suddenly stopped herself at the awful sight of one of the Alloys stabbing her right in the back with a long blade. Samus reacted quickly, racing up and kicking down the creature and then stomping its face to shattered pieces.

Lucas rushed over to the fox's side, attempting a PSI Life Up, before he stopped. Samus turned to look at him in confusion, but his face explained everything before his voice was able to work.

"... She's gone."

* * *

Destroyed buildings made up parts of the Gamecube Division now. The devastation could be seen for miles, from high buildings in the Wii Division, from the slums out by the Advance and SNES Divisions.

In fact, some people could see it perfectly from their front porches. They could see the smoke rising where businesses once stood, and one building was even on fire. People were close enough could hear the sirens going from emergency vehicles.

Samus was right in the midde of the chaos as she led Lucas away and back to the park that they had split from the others at. Slowly, the other four members appeared and they recounted everything.

Captain Falcon had found a group of storekeepers who were trying to save their goods from the Alloys. One had died.

Link had found a group of people that he knew and did his best to protect them. Luckily for him, there were no casualties that he knew of.

Samus recounted what had happened with them and the farmers, telling them about the old man that had died and then about Krystal. Captain Falcon and Ness both lowered their heads, instantly thinking of poor Fox and how he wouldn't know until they'd be able to tell him.

For a moment the group was quiet as they processed what had just happened. Gamecube was attacked. There were deaths involved, and one of them was the girlfriend of their dear friend Fox. Samus had trouble processing it herself, and she had been there to witness it. She had avenged it. Tightly, she clenched a fist in anger at what had been going on these past few days. She just wanted it all to stop before more innocent people were killed by these creatures.

What if the next one was one of them? What if it was Lucas? Duster would never forgive her.

What if it were Duster? What would happen to Kumatora and Lucas then?

What if it was Zelda? Or Mario?

... What if it were her?

Suddenly, Little Link's sword flashed, and he grasped the hilt, summoning the strange being Fi to the field. The group looked at her, as she regarded the situation for a moment, before finally speaking.

"_Master, a report,_" she began. "_Basing off the current data that I have collected based on your different experiences in this attempt to stop the Alloys' attacks, I have made a conclusion. The possible location of the launched attack, according to my calculations, is at the top of that building._" She turned to face the distant building that appeared very suspcious, to say the least. "_I have calculated the possibility of another attack occurring. Reccommended action is immediate attempt to shut down the next launch._"

Once she had disappeared into the sword, Little Link glanced up at Samus. With his still somewhat raw voice, he asked, "Well?"

Samus was quiet for a moment as she processed the words of the sword's AI. "... Let's do it."

She felt a hand tighten around her own and she looked down to see a surprisingly brave looking Lucas, who gave a determined nod. "Y-Y-Yeah," voiced Lucas. "L-Let's do it. I m-m-mean, they're h-hurting people, a-a-and that's not r-r-right..."

Together, the group headed off to the building.

"What's our plan of attack?" asked Ness suddenly. "We need one!"

"I have a plan," stated Captain Falcon. "Attack."

* * *

An Alloy was stuck with the very uncool job of mopping the floors. It grumbled and complained in its own language before it finally turned to look at the surprising scene before it.

It's friend had a sword jammed through its chest, a pretty silvery sword with a wonderful hilt, and attached to it was the hadn to a Hylian. The Hylian was flanked by a man in a helmet and a woman with blonde hair, cracking her knuckles.

"Hi!" chirped a young boy standing next to them, accompanied by two other boys. "We're here to raid you."

The Alloy hesitated as the Hylian released its dead friend from his sword. Captain Falcon readied a fist. Samus stepped into a fighting position. Then, like wildfire set loose, the three adults launched at the Alloy, each of them attacking it to the point that it fell to the ground, the mop falling onto the tile with a thud. Samus immediately took control, turning to the others.

"We have to get to the roof, that's where Fi said it was, right?"

"She said it was launched from the top of the building," Captain Falcon corrected. "She never said 'roof', but it's the best place to check."

"Right, so here's how this is going to work. We're going in _together_, not split up like we had done earlier," Samus explained, trying to summon the elevator. "The plan of attack is shoot first and ask questions later, and no friendly fire. Boys -" At this, she turned to the three young children. "- you stick together and don't get involved if the fight gets too dirty, okay?"

"We can fight!" claimed Little Link with his scratchy voice.

"And I know you can," Samus assured him, "But I made a promise and I intend to keep it."

She ignored the looks she got from everyone else as the elevator finally arrived and they all boarded it. The highest floor number they could reach was a few floors below the rooftop, but they went with it anyway and hit the button.

The elevator ride was slow, and painful. The cheery elevator music wasn't very entertaining and was clearly getting on Link's nerves. Lucas shuffled and shifted frequently, and Little Link massaged his throat. Captain Falcon crossed his arms before finally speaking.

"So, what are we going to do when we get there?" he asked.

Samus frowned and glared at the floor. "We find a way to shut it down. My guess is its some kind of cannon."

"That makes sense," Ness spoke up. "But how would we be able to shut it down?"

"W-We'd have to know how it w-w-works first," stuttered Lucas. "And we d-don't know yet..."

Samus nodded in agreement. "That's true. That's why I'll focus on the cannon or whatever it is, the rest of you, I want you to watch my back."

Captain Falcon gave a smirk before he slapped Link on the back. "You can trust us! We'll take care of the Alloys, and you destroy their toy! I like this plan!"

The moment the elevator opened wide before them, the group rushed out, trampling over a number of Alloys before they reached the stairs leading up to the roof. Samus busted the door open with a well aimed kick, and the group then crashed through the door. Turning slowly towards them from the cannon was someone they had never met before.

If Samus had to hazard a guess, based on the woman's overall flair, she had to be from the DS Division. She was taller, taller than all of them, with sickly green skin and a long, flowing cloak. A long staff with an orb at the top was placed in her hands and she slowly gave a sneer at the group before her.

"To be honest," she started cooly, "I was not expecting guests. I had been assured that my task would go uninterrupted and very smoothly. Seeing as I was lied to, it is obvious that the leader of the Alloys misjudged you horribly. I will be sure to take this to him."

"Who are you and who are you working for?" Samus immediately asked. "We were expecting only Alloys to be here!"

"My dear, I am not one that you would want to fight with," the woman said in a confidant tone. "I once ruled over thousands, I am the _most feared_ in my Division."

"And where's that?"

"Why, the DS Division, of course, although, formerly, I had been in Advance."

"And who are you? You never answered any of my earlier questions."

The woman gave a cold hearted laugh that caused Samus to quiver. She noticed Link tighten his hold on his Master Sword and prepared herself to shoot her gun.

"Why, dear, I am Maleficent! As for who I work for, I'm sure that will all come to appear in time," laughed the sorceress. "I am rising to the place that I am meant to be, and he is going to help me reach that. And, once he's done, I will strip him of his powers and take his place as my own."

She turned toward her cannon and began to fiddle with a few of the instruments. "I do believe that you are in my way, so if you will kindly turn around and walk away, we can both act like this encounter had never occurred."

"I don't think so," Samus scoffed. "If you even think of launching that, you are sadly mistaken."

Maleficent turned to face them, raising her arms high above her. "I can take my leave now as soon as I wish! It is set on automatic launch!" A portal began to appear and she gave a sneer. "Good luck, Smash Brothers, for the time when we meet to battle, it will _be your last!_"

She disappeared in a smoke of purple into the portal, which quickly disappeared. From her departure, a large mass of Alloys began to appear on the roof. The Brothers readied themselves for a fight, Samus agitated. It hadn't gone the way that she had wanted at all, and she was unimpressed with the actions of someone from a subdivision of her own. She had always viewed the Wii and DS Divisions as good - filled with people with good intentions and no drama, except for those annoying animals that liked to chatter outside her window. To know that someone from DS was helping whoever was controlling the Alloys... It sickened her.

Captain Falcon placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. She smiled a bit, appreciating the gesture. "Let's get a move on, you have to shut that down and we have to watch your back."

"Make a mad dash for it," Ness offered. "I'll raise our defense and we can rush in with no worries."

[Hurry,] signed Link quickly.

After he had just finished signing, Samus rushed forward, through the crowd of Alloys, dodging arrows coming fro the Links and PK Fires and PK Thunders. Finally, she reached the control panel for the cannon and gazed at it with a confused expression for just a moment, before she started punching in demands for it to follow.

A safety measure had been put in to stop anyone from turning it off. A security number and clearance was needed to do so, and Samus didn't know any of the security numbers needed. She could, however, control the location that the attack would be going. It was a longshot, but, she figured, it was better than having it attack innocent's houses.

She punched in the coordinates just as Captain Falcon had saved her the problem of getting a concussion. He quickly turned to her and demanded, "Are you almost done?! It's getting a little crowded up here!"

"I just finished," she announced. "I couldn't turn it off, all I could do was chance the location that it was launching to."

"And where's that?"

"... Here."

Captain Falcon paused long enough for Samus to worry that he was going to get attacked from behind. "You what? We're still here, Samus!"

"Then let's get ditching this place before it launches."

Captain Falcon nodded, before turning to face the others. "Smash Brothers! Clear the place! We're getting out of here!"

Link quickly grabbed the neckline of Little Link's tunic, yanking him toward him and picking him up like he was a dog. As soon as he had a good hold on the little boy, Link quickly ran for the door. Captain Falcon and Samus grabbed Ness and Lucas and ran as well.

Annoyingly, in the span of the time they had spent up on the roof, the elevator had been declared "Out of Order". The group stared at it for five seconds before they bee-lined for the stairs.

"Of course they decide right when we decide to crush this building to smithereens that it's _out of order_!" barked Captain Falcon as they rushed down the steps. "This is annoying! I don't think we have enough time for this!"

Link appeared ready to sign something, but quickly decided that running was more important. The group rushed down a few more flights, Little Link skipping every other one to catch up as he was the smallest.

"There are a lot of floors in this place," Ness pointed out, sounding a bit out of breath. "Captain Falcon has a point!"

Samus stopped and quickly peered out the window, judging the distance. After deeming it to high, she quickly chased after the others, who hadn't noticed her stopping. The building suddenly shook violently, and Alloys in the hallways panicked and ran for their lives. Samus immediately took control, taking hold of Lucas just a few feet in front of her.

"Everyone!" she called out, racing toward the nearest window as Lucas screamed in horror. "JUMP OUT! JUMP OUT NOW!"

She barreled through the window, crashing through the glass and shielding Lucas as best as she could. From what she could see as the window became smaller and smaller, Captain Falcon had grabbed hold of Ness and was doing the same thing. She didn't see the Links leave.

Lucas whimpered in her hold as she continued to fly through the air, but suddenly, something cushioned her and Captain Falcon's landing. She sat up and noticed, with surprise, the farmers from earlier had, amazingly, piled hay right below the window.

"How..." she started, until one of the farmers held up a hand, before pointing to a woman standing behind them.

"It was her," said the farmer.

Samus looked behind the group, and looked straight into the blue eyes of Princess Zelda.

* * *

Link and Little Link, meanwhile, knew they weren't going to make it out in time. Midna quickly shifted Link into wolf form and teleported them out without thinking, probably keeping her own safety in mind before the safety of the young Hero of Winds. Fi alerted him and he grabbed hold of the hilt absentmindedly, still attempting to storm through the stairs.

"_Chances of escape have dropped significantly,_" Fi alerted him, without revealing herself. "_The Goddess of Hyrule have put these statistics in mind and have prepared a suitable escape. Prepare to warped to a safer location immediately._"

"Wait, what?" Little Link blurted out, before he suddenly vanished, right before a piece of ceiling landed right where he had been standing only moments before.

* * *

**FILE 07.5 - "Always"**

Y_o_u _k_n_o_w _t_h_a_t _y_o_u_'v_e_ a_l_w_a_y_s_ b_e_e_n_ m_y_ l_i_t_t_l_e_ s_w_e_e_t_h_e_a_r_t_, r_i_g_h_t_?_ N_o_t_h_i_n_g _i_s _e_v_e_r _g_o_i_n_g_ t_o_ c_h_a_n_g_e_ t_h_a_t_.

I_'l_l _a_l_w_a_y_s _l_o_v_e _y_o_u_, a_n_d _y_o_u_ k_n_o_w_ t_h_a_t_, n_o_ m_a_t_t_e_r_ w_h_a_t_.

T_h_a_t_'s _w_h_y_ I_'m_ d_o_i_n_g _w_h_a_t _I_ c_a_n _t_o _p_r_o_t_e_c_t_ y_o_u, _b_e_c_a_u_s_e_ I _l_o_v_e _y_o_u_.

S_t_a_y_ s_t_r_o_n_g_ f_o_r _m_e, _p_l_e_a_s_e. _S_t_a_y _s_t_r_o_n_g _j_u_s_t _a_ l_i_t_t_l_e_ l_o_n_g_e_r_. I_t_'s _g_o_i_n_g_ t_o_ g_e_t _h_a_r_d_e_r.

_B_u_t_ I'_m_ a_l_w_a_y_s_ h_e_r_e_. A_l_w_a_y_s_.


	8. File 08: DS Division

**FILE 08 - "DS Division"  
**_Master, I have a report that is very important to make.  
Your hearts have decreased quite dramatically. Replenish some of your life at the earliest opportunity._

* * *

Little Link's eyes opened. A smell dominated his nose - trash, garbage, rotten food.

Where was he? The last thing he remembered was Fi alerting him about suddenly being warped to a safer location, but where was this? It smelled like trash and garbagee, and the smell was less than pleasant. He sat up and removed a banana peel from his shoulder before he decided to take a look around where he was.

Seagulls... seagulls were in the sky!

"Ah!" he cried out, jumping out of the green trash bin. Was he back home?! Was he back in his own time, back at the Great Sea and his adventure and...

"... My word," said a sudden voice.

Little Link's head snapped to the source, seeing a rather pleasantly dressed man with a rather large tophat, accompanied by a young boy around his age with a blue sweater. "Um, who are you?"

"We were just about to ask you the same question," quipped the boy. "We heard a crash, and then spotted you in the trash bin."

"Are you alright?" asked the man.

Little Link had to stop to think about that. "... I'm sure I'll be fine, after I get a bit of red potion..."

The man smiled a bit at that and pointed down the street. "There are various shops down this road that sell the potion that you would like. We can take you down it, and show you the way. I am Professor Hershel Layton, and this is my assistant, Luke."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" chirped Luke.

Little Link smiled. "I'm Link, but my friends call me Little Link. Where am I, by any chance?"

Professor Layton smiled even more and crossed his arms. "You have landed in the DS Division, just off of Wii."

* * *

While Professor Layton and his young assistant were a tad bit too far to see the explosion and crumbling of the building that had occurred in Gamecube, everyone in the surrounding areas had seen it. People closer to the Division that had been in Wii had seen the smoke and had heard the blast. Everyone in Advance had heard it and most had seen the smoke and the crumbling of the building with their own eyes. People in SNES had seen the smoke and worried there had been a fire. Those in 64 had felt the tremors and feared there were an earthquake. Duster and Kumatora feared Lucas had been involved.

They couldn't have been more right.

Samus, meanwhile, counted heads and swore rather loudly when she realized they were missing one. She turned when she noticed Zelda approaching her and quieted down, deciding to let this Zelda speak to her. She hadn't yet spoken to this new form of Zelda and extremely disliked her brown hair, when she was used to blonde. Her eyes were too sharp, she seemed more like this new Link that she was still growing accustomed to.

"I understand your frustrations in dealing with new incarnations of the Zelda and the Link that you once knew," spoke the new Zelda rather suddenly, putting her hands together before her heart. "I understand that this was all somewhat sudden and unplanned, but you must understand that this is in our nature, and it is a part of our life and the way that we live. I also understand that while this is true, it does not yet excuse the fact that you had grown attached to our previous incarnations and their sudden replacement hurt you greatly.

"Furthermore, with this mind, it makes what I'm about to say much, much harder for me to say to you, understanding that you were attached to my previous incarnation, and she probably did not say to you what I am about to say. It is hard, but it must be said. Your actions today, while they have saved many lives and the state of this Division, still caused harm and destruction of the homes of thousands of people, these farmers included. I cannot say that I forgive what you helped sow, but you did cause the destruction of the Alloys' base here and helped in the elimination of their weapon that they had been using."

The group was silent for a long time. Did Zelda basically tell Samus that all this was her fault? Samus couldn't believe it, and she clenched her fist tightly and tried her best to hold back her emotions and anger toward this woman. How dare she... She had only been trying to help! She didn't mean to cause this, and really, destroying the building had been pretty much the only option, as Maleficent had locked its controls and she had been unable to shut it down.

Footsteps. More footsteps. She looked up to see Link stepping up to his Princess, signing somewhat furiously at her, yet his expression remained stone-faced. Zelda read them with a bit of a frown before she erupted in signs herself, and the two of them began a rather intimate argument. The two of them were going so fast that Samus had trouble reading them, and Captain Falcon grunted angrily before turning to her.

"Well, while the Secret Sign Language Club is having an argument, let's try to decide our next move. We need to find Little Link," he told her. "Where could he have gone?"

"I don't sense him around here," Ness brought up, looking between the two adults. "Which means he somehow left the area completely and wound up somewhere else."

Lucas fiddled with his fingers for a moment. "I-I... I think he m-might h-have warped s-so-somehow..."

"Warped?" Samus asked, looking down at the tow psychics.

"Well, it's not possible that he's dead, otherwise, we would have known," Ness pointed out. "So Lucas has a point with saying that it's possible that Little Link probably warped somehow to another location. The question is - where would Fi send him?"

"It's time like these I wish we had scanners," Captain Falcon brought up with a slight grunt of annoyance. Samus could only nod in agreement.

"Right, agreed. So, I guess our only option is to not worry about it until we find him. Maybe he'll find us," Samus hoped, holding the bridge of her nose in annoyance. She wanted coffee. Or maybe a beer.

"We... We can't just... just leave him b-b-behind!" Lucas stuttered, tears brimming already at just the idea. "We... we ha-have to fi-find hi-him..."

"We will, Lucas, don't worry!" Ness chirped happily.

Samus quickly glanced back at the newly christianed "Secret Sign Language Club" to see that their argument was still going. Some of the nearby farmers also seemed to be betting on the winner, which she found somewhat hilarious.

* * *

The DS Division, Little Link decided, was very nice.

It wasn't dirty like SNES, or lowly like 64, or run down like the harbours of Advance. It was very much like the clean streets and buildings of the Wii Division, and he liked that. He had a smile on his face as he held his bottle of red potion in his hands, sipping away at it as he followed the Professor and his assistant down the streets.

As it turned out, the good Professor Hershel Layton happened to know a "Smash Brother" that lived around these parts. Luke had happily stated that the two of them would be happy to help Little Link get there, so he could do nothing but agree, as he didn't know his way around here very well. The streets were paved nice and straight and the shopping around here seemed to be good - or so he figured, there were a lot of girls carrying quite a few bags walking about.

Eventually Professor Layton and Luke stopped before a townhouse residence. Professor Layton turned to Little Link and smiled.

"Here we are, Link, my boy," he said with a smile. "The Smash Brother that I told you about lives here at number 3. His name is Marth, and he lives here with his friend Roy."

"Big Brother told me that he met Marth and Roy," Little Link said with a smile of his own. "I'm sure I can figure it out from here. Thank you, both of you!"

"It was our pleasure," Professor Layton assured him.

"Oh!" Luke suddenly exclaimed, taking out a notepad. "But first - this is tradition! I want to tell you a puzzle."

Little Link blinked. "Okay, let's hear it. I solve puzzles all the time."

"Wonderful! Perhaps you'll like this one. It goes like this..."

* * *

PUZZLE 020  
40 PICARATS

A, B, C, D and E are sitting on a bench. A is sitting next to B, C is sitting next to D, D is not sitting with E who is on the left end of the bench. C is on the second position from the right. A is to the right of B and E. A and C are sitting together. In which position A is sitting ?

A. Between B and D  
B. Between B and C  
C. Between E and D  
D. Between C and E

* * *

Little Link pondered.

... Oh, did he ponder. He went over the question multiple times and even asked Luke to repeat it one more time when he thought he had the answer. Luke simply smiled and repeated it with ease.

Then, Little Link had it. He gave a big smile and pointed his pointer finger at Luke. "I've got it!"

* * *

ANSWER:

**B**

The answer is B!

The seating arrangement is explained as D "not sitting with E, who is on the left end of the bench", which would place both of them on opposite ends. Putting into consideration where everyone else is sitting, the arrangement goes like so:

E, B, A, C, D.

Therefore, the answer is option B!

* * *

Luke gave a big smile. "That's right! You are amazing at puzzles, Link!"

Little Link blushed slightly, rubbing the back of his head. "I have to solve a lot of them on my adventures."

Professor Layton gave a smile, and together the two puzzle-solvers led the way to number 3, waving goodbye as they left Little Link there to ring the doorbell on his own.

A sudden panic rose inside Little Link, worried about how he would have to explain just how he had gotten here. The door slowly opened to reveal a red-haired swordsman, who broke into a grin.

"Hey, it's the little Link! It's me, Roy, remember?"

Little Link could only shake his head. "Um, no..."

"Aw, don't worry too much about it, I only helped out in the battle of the Wireframes, anyway," Roy scoffed slightly, waving his hand absentmindedly. "What are you here for, Lord Marth?"

"I'm just here for help, really," Little Link explained. "I have to get back to the Gamecube Division, I got separated from my group."

Roy nodded understandably. "I can understand that, Lord Marth arrived just recently with Lord Ike and a few others, saying that they can't find Mr. Game & Watch. Perhaps you can help each other."

"Roy?"

Both turned to see Princess Peach standing in the hall, appearing concerned. "Roy, Marth wants to know who's at the door..." Roy stepped out of the way and Peach gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. "Oh! It's the new Little Link, oh, dear goodness..." She rushed up to the small Hylian and hugged him slightly. "Oh, dear, I've been so worried about the children! Are the other two okay?"

It took Little Link a moment to realize she meant Ness and Lucas. "Y-Yes, they're okay. They're with Samus, and Captain Falcon and Big Brother, so they should be."

"Oh, that's a relief, then," Peach replied, clearly glad about the news. "But how come you're all alone? Where did they go?"

Little Link then went on to explain, in great detail, what had happened since they started standing up to the Alloys, to what happened in 64, Advance, and SNES, to what happened in Gamecube and Samus' attempt to stop their launching by aiming the attack in the building. He explained how they attempted to leave the building, but as it turned out, they had no chance and so Samus bolted out a window, clutching Lucas, followed by Captain Falcon with Ness. He explained how Midna had teleported Link, but not him, and then he stopped.

Grasping the sword strapped to his back, he explained what Kumatora had done in Advance while they had visited Lucas' family. He explained Fi, or as much as he knew about it, and how she had informed him that the Goddess warped him away, landing him in the DS Division. Once he was done with his story, he looked up to see the shocked faces of Marth, Peach and Roy, soon joined by Ike, Pikachu and Kirby.

Kirby looked up at everyone, before deciding to say something. "Poyo, poyo?"

Pikachu gave a mock shrug. "Piiika."

Ike crossed his arms. "It sounds like you need to get back to Gamecube then, that is, if they haven't moved since you disappeared from them."

Little Link nodded, clearly worried about that. Did they leave without him? Were they still there?"

"No matter," Marth brought up, stepping up to dictate like a leader and flipping his hair. "We shall aid Little Link in returning to his party. Besides, it would be good to help the Gamecube Division to recover after the attack that they have suffered."

"Lord Marth is right!" chirped Roy, agreeing instantly as always.

"I'm from that Division," Ike pointed out, a frown forming. "It would be nice to check if everyone is alright."

The rest of the group nodded as well, and inside, Little Link felt something swell as he watched it. These people that the kind Professor had brought him to - they were willing to help! Being a Smash Brother, it must be so much fun, all that loyalty that they have to each other and the Divisions that they are from. He was surprised that they had agreed to splitting up like they had. What would have happened, perhaps, if they had all been there when the Alloys had attacked 64? Would that Division have suffered as much damage as it had?

Fi alerted him all of a sudden, and he placed his hand on the hilt instantly, summoning her to the room and startling everyone but him.

"_Master, a report,_" she started as usual. He wasn't sure, but even in her emotionless glance that she kept so strong and firm, he detected a bit of worry. "_Statistics state that the Alloys have fled the Gamecube Division after the destruction of their base that your friend Samus had created. After going over the data that I have collected, I can report that I have made a theory of their next movement, which, with all data considered, states that they will be attacking the Gameboy Division next._"

"The Gameboy Division?" Peach spoke in worry, a hand moving to her lips. "Oh, that's horrible... It's such a small place, what could they possibly be thinking?"

"_Theories state that the Alloys, although they appear to show signs of their own personalities and sometimes act on this, they do not have a mind of their own and do not do their own thinking. It is possible that they are A.I.s, much like myself,_" Fi stated, turning slightly to face the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. "_My theories on the Alloy's next movement and this behaviour are only that - a theory. Whether or not I am create in my conclusion remains to be seen._"

The group grew quiet until Marth turned to the others. "We have a choice here to make. We can either take Little Link here to his party in the Gamecube Division and help with recovery, or go based on Fi's theory and check on the Gameboy Division, and eliminate any threats the Alloys create."

Roy stepped up next to his friend. "All those in favour of going to the Gamecube Division, raise your hands."

Kirby, Ike and Roy raised their hands.

"All those in favour of going to the Gameboy Division, raise your hands."

Pikachu, Peach and Little Link raised their hands.

Roy turned to Marth. "We have a tie, Lord Marth. What are your orders?"

The group watched as Marth narrowed his eyes.

* * *

**FILE 08.5 - "SEPARATION"****  
**

O_h_, m_y_ s_w_e_e_t _b_o_y..._

S_o s_tr_o_n_g,_ s_o_ b_r_a_v_e, _n_o_w_, y_e_t _s_t_i_l_l_ y_o_u _st_ut_t_er.

D_on_'t w_o_r_r_y, _l_o_v_e. M_om_my'_s s_ti_ll_ he_r_e. M_o_m_my_'s s_ti_ll _wa_tc_h_in_g_ y_o_u.

Mo_mm_y'_s_ _s_t_i_ll p_r_ot_ec_ti_n_g y_o_u. _A_l_w_a_y_s.


End file.
